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Former US Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, nominated by American President Donald Trump to oversee US spy agencies, accused Democratic senators on Thursday of trying to promote religious intolerance against Hindus and Hinduism and denied allegations that she is a puppet for the US President and world leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin
“Those who oppose my nomination imply that I am loyal to something or someone other than God, my own conscience and the constitution of the United States, accusing me of being Trump’s puppet, Putin’s puppet, Assad’s puppet, a guru’s puppet, Modi’s puppet, not recognizing the absurdity of simultaneously being the puppet of five different puppet masters,” she said during her confirmation hearing.
“The fact is, what truly unsettles my political opponents is I refuse to be their puppet,” she said. “I have no love for Assad or Gaddafi or any dictator. I just hate al-Qaida. I hate that we have leaders who cozy up to Islamist extremists.”
Gabbard, 43, who was the first Hindu American elected to the US House of Representatives, made these comments during her confirmation hearing for the position of Director of National Intelligence, which oversees US intelligence agencies, including the CIA and the FBI.
Tulsi accuses Democrats of ‘bigotry against Hindus’
After being nominated by Trump, Gabbard faced criticism from several opponents because of her Hindu faith.
“Democrat senators in the past resorted to anti-Christian bigotry against some of President Trump’s judicial nominees like Amy Coney Barrett and Brian Buescher. I condemned those actions as a Democrat in Congress at the time, as religious bigotry must be thoroughly condemned by all of us, no matter the religion,” she said.
“Unfortunately, there are some Democrat senators who still don’t understand the principle of freedom of religion and Article 6 of the Constitution. No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States,” she added.
“Unfortunately, they’re once again using the religious bigotry card, but this time trying to foment religious bigotry against Hindus and Hinduism. If anyone is sincerely interested in knowing more about my own personal spiritual path of Hinduism, I welcome you to go to my account on X, where I’ll share more on this topic,” Gabbard said.
US Senators from both parties, Democrats and Republicans, questioned Tulsi Gabbard about her 2017 meeting with Syria’s Assad and her stance on Edward Snowden. Gabbard’s previous statements on Russia were also scrutinized.
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