Experts are sounding alarms over Tulsi Gabbard’s history of pro-Kremlin rhetoric and foreign policy decisions, with one prominent analyst warning that her potential appointment as Director of National Intelligence (DNI) would pose a direct threat to U.S. security.
Gabbard’s deeply troubling record of promoting Russian propaganda and undermining U.S. foreign policy reached a disturbing new level during her visit to the Syria-Turkey border in 2015. There, in a conversation with Syrian children who had survived Assad’s brutal airstrikes, Gabbard asked: “How do you know it was Bashar al-Assad or Russia that bombed you, and not ISIS?”
For Mouaz Moustafa, a Syrian activist who witnessed the exchange, it was an absurd question that exposed Gabbard’s disjointed understanding of the conflict. Her refusal to acknowledge the reality of Assad’s brutal regime and Russia’s complicity in atrocities stunned Moustafa, who said he could no longer truthfully translate her words. “I had to protect these children from the lies,” he recalls. “It became clear she was more interested in advancing a narrative than in understanding the truth.”
Gabbard’s position on the Syrian war, where she saw Russia and Assad as legitimate defenders against a Western-backed “regime-change war,” marked the beginning of a disturbing trajectory. Even as the conflict’s death toll soared, with over 500,000 killed and Russia’s devastating airstrikes on civilian targets escalating, Gabbard was parroting Kremlin-backed conspiracy theories about chemical weapons attacks and the true perpetrators of violence.
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Her endorsement of Russian aggression wasn’t limited to Syria. When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Gabbard once again echoed Kremlin talking points, even suggesting that NATO’s policies were to blame for Russia’s invasion. She lent credibility to the baseless Russian narrative about U.S.-funded biolabs in Ukraine — a lie straight from the Kremlin playbook. And Russian state media lavished praise on her, calling her a “superwoman.”
This pattern of aligning with autocrats and undermining U.S. interests makes her potential appointment as DNI not just concerning, but alarming. Experts fear her openness to foreign disinformation and her track record of minimizing Russia’s threat to U.S. democracy would severely compromise the integrity of America’s intelligence community.
Charles Lister, a Middle East expert, warns that Gabbard’s history of denying the Syrian regime’s war crimes and promoting Russian propaganda raises grave questions about her fitness to lead U.S. intelligence. “Her views are so extreme and disconnected from reality that her appointment as DNI could destabilize American intelligence operations globally,” Lister says.
Her close ties to Russia and her dismissal of atrocities in Syria show a dangerous susceptibility to misinformation — a mindset that would jeopardize the accuracy and security of intelligence briefings. “Could we trust her to deliver the truth, or would she present a distorted version of reality?” asks Larry Pfeiffer, a former U.S. intelligence official. “Her judgment is clearly compromised.”
Beyond the immediate dangers of her potential nomination, there is also the long-term risk to international intelligence cooperation. Allies who rely on U.S. intelligence would likely view Gabbard’s leadership as a betrayal. Intelligence-sharing arrangements could be severely compromised, further isolating the U.S. on the world stage.
Gabbard’s rise to power and proximity to Russian interests isn’t just a political anomaly — it’s a national security crisis waiting to unfold. If appointed DNI, her history of promoting foreign adversaries’ agendas could not only endanger U.S. security, but also put American lives at risk. The stakes could not be higher.
