Former U.S. Representative Tulsi Gabbard, President-elect Donald Trump's pick for the director of national intelligence (DNI), was trolled by critics online after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime collapsed Sunday.
Gabbard, a Democratic 2020 presidential candidate turned Republican Trump ally, advocates for anti-interventionist foreign policy and has been criticized for her seemingly warm view of dictators.
In a letter published on Thursday by the group Foreign Policy for America, almost 100 former intelligence and national security officials told Senate Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator John Thune, the incoming Republican majority leader, that Gabbard "aligned herself with Russian and Syrian officials" and would be "the least experienced" person to ever lead national intelligence.
The Senate must confirm Gabbard for her to get the lead national intelligence role.
The former officials wrote that Gabbard embraced Russian President Vladimir Putin and Assad and "publicly cast doubt on U.S. intelligence reports" concerning Assad's reported use of chemical weapons and the Russia-Ukraine war.
When Assad and other top government officials vanished from Syria after reportedly resigning and hosting negotiations with rebel groups who started seizing control of the Middle Eastern country last weekend, prominent critics of Trump and his allies trolled Gabbard on social media.
Newsweek reached out to Gabbard via email for comment Sunday morning.
Former U.S. Representative Adam Kinzinger, an Illinois Republican, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, Saturday night, "Wonder if @TulsiGabbard will offer Assad safe harbor at her house? They are great friends."
In a follow-up post, the former congressman wrote, "Remember, @TulsiGabbard claimed Assad didn't use chemical weapons, it was 'the rebels.' Her confirmation hearing will be brutal, if she even makes it to there."
Rick Wilson, co-founder of The Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump political action committee (PAC), wrote Sunday morning, "Please give Tulsi Gabbard space in privacy in this delicate time," with a link to a news article about the Assad government collapse.
Bloomberg columnist Matthew Yglesias predicted the fall of Assad's government, writing on X on Friday, "Getting Tulsi Gabbard nominated to be Director of National Intelligence only for his regime to collapse during the transition has to be a real black fly in the chardonnay moment for Assad."
Wajahat Ali, author of "The Left Hook" substack blog who has been published in The Atlantic and The Washington Post, wrote on Saturday night, "Really, really bad day for Tulsi Gabbard and all other Assad apologists. Great day for Syrians."
The X account "Republicans against Trump" posted Saturday night, "Today will be a good day for Donald Trump to withdraw the nomination of Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence."
Richard Hanania, president of the Center for the Study of Partisanship and Ideology (CSPI), wrote Saturday night, "The story of Assad surviving a 13-year civil war only to be removed from power at the moment right before Tulsi Gabbard is going to have oversight of American intelligence belongs in an Alanis Morissette song." Morissette is a singer who was popular in the 1990s. One of her most famous songs is titled, "Ironic."
Jim Stewartson, co-host of the podcast Radicalized: Truth Survives, wrote Saturday night, "Buh bye Assad. Sorry you just missed your girl Tulsi."
Crowds gathered in the streets of Syria to celebrate the end of the Assad family's 50 years of iron rule. Assad became the president of Syria in 2000, succeeding his father Hafez al-Assad, who ruled from 1971 until he died in 2000. For nearly 14 years, the country had been in a civil war, starting as a March 2011 protest against Assad's rule.
The news of the Assad government's vanishment came from Russia, a key ally to the fallen regime.
Russia's foreign ministry wrote in a Telegram post on Sunday that Assad left Syria after negotiations with the rebels and gave "instructions" to "transfer power peacefully."
The ministry said that Moscow "did not participate in these negotiations," and that it has been following the "dramatic events" in Syria "with extreme concern."
Gabbard's 2017 Meeting With Assad
In 2017, Gabbard met with Assad during a trip to Syria, which former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations (U.N.) during Trump's first administration and then unsuccessfully ran against him in the 2024 Republican primary, mentioned last month while raising concerns about Trump's pick for director of national intelligence.
"She went to Syria in 2017 for a photo-op with Bashar al-Assad while he was massacring his own people. She said she was skeptical that he was behind the chemical weapons attacks," Haley said about Gabbard on her SiriusXM radio show. "Now this to me is disgusting."
In 2017, Assad dismissed reports of a recent chemical attack on a rebel-held town in the Idlib province that killed over 90 people and injured dozens more as "100% fabrication," despite numerous eyewitness accounts to the contrary.
Gabbard stood by her meeting with Assad during a 2019 interview, telling CNN's Jake Tapper that she had no regrets.
"I think that it is, it continues to be very important for any leader in this country to be willing to meet with others, whether they be friends or adversaries or potential adversaries if we are serious about the pursuit of peace and securing our country," Gabbard said at the time.
