Margaret Brennan, CBS anchor, attempted to use selective headlines to smear Tulsi Gabbard, which Vice-President J.D. Vance didn’t seem to like.
In their CBS exchange, Vance defended Gabbard’s nomination for Director of National Intelligence. He claimed that the conservative outlets have lost their relevance.
“Both the Wall Street Journal and the National Review, conservative publications, as you know, have been critical of Tulsi Gabbard. The Review called her ‘an atrocious nominee who deserves to be defeated.’ They compared her defense of Edward Snowden, the fugitive who stole U.S. secrets, to an attorney general who thinks the mob gets a bad rap. Her refusal to accept U.S. intelligence findings that Assad gassed his own people, they said was ‘like a nominee for OMB Director not being able to count.’ Does any of this give you pause putting her in charge of the U.S. intelligence community? Yes or no?” Brennan questioned.
Vance’s response was a firm one. “No, Margaret look, these are publications that attacked Donald J. Trump obsessively, but those publications don’t determine who the president is, the American people do, and Donald J. Trump is the person who determines who his cabinet is, not these publications that I think, frankly, have lost relevance.”
Brennan then said, “The Senate will ultimately decide.”
Vance answered, “Well, the Senate will provide advice and consent, as is its constitutional obligation. But I feel confident that Tulsi Gabbard will ultimately get through. Two things that are important to know about Tulsi. First of all, she is a career military servant who’s had a classification at the highest levels for nearly two decades.”
He added: “She has impeccable character, impeccable record of service, and she also is a person who I think is going to bring some trust back to the intelligence services. The bureaucrats at our intelligence services have gotten completely out of control. They’ve been part of the weaponization of our political system, the weaponization of our justice system. We need to have good intelligence services who keep us safe. But part of that is restoring trust in those services, and we think Tulsi is the right person to do it.”
Margaret Brennan said, “She doesn’t trust those intelligence services.”
Vice President Vance’s CBS interview with Margaret Brennan reflects a shift in American politics toward more substantive debates on national security.
Additionally, his firm support for Tulsi Gabbard reinforces the idea that nominees should be judged on their credentials, expertise, and plans for reform rather than partisan media narratives.