‘No place for Russian, Chinese sympathiser,’ Nikki Haley blasts Trump's DNI pick Tulsi Gabbard

Former US envoy to the United Nations Nikki Haley opened a front against incoming intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard Wednesday (Nov 20), accusing her of being a Russian and Chinese sympathiser. Speaking on her SiriusXM show, Nikki Haley Live, Haley blasted President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) over her remarks about the Russia-Ukraine war.

“After Russia invaded Ukraine, Tulsi Gabbard literally blamed NATO, our Western alliance that’s responsible for countering Russia,” Haley stated, adding that her stance was backed by the likes of Russia and China on their television. “She blamed NATO for the attack on Ukraine, and the Russians and the Chinese echoed her talking points and her interviews on Russian and Chinese television,” Haley added.

Haley claimed that Gabbard consistently aligned with nations like Russia, Syria, Iran, and China in foreign policy matters.

“So now she’s defended Russia, she’s defended Syria, she’s defended Iran, and she’s defended China. No, she has not denounced any of these views. None of them. She hasn’t taken one of them back,” Haley said.

“This is not a place for a Russian, Iranian, Syrian, Chinese sympathizer.”

Haley, a Republican who suspended her presidential campaign and later endorsed Trump, also trained her guns on Robert F Kennedy Jr, who has been tapped to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

"He’s a liberal Democrat, environmental attorney, trial lawyer who will now be overseeing 25 percent of our federal budget and has no background in health care,” Haley alleged.

“Some of you may think RFK is cool, some of you may like that he questions what’s in our food and what’s in our vaccines, but we don’t know, when he is given reins to an agency, what decisions he’s going to make behind the scenes,” she added.

Following his victory in the November 5 elections, Trump announced he wouldn’t be inviting Haley to join his second administration.

“I will not be inviting former Ambassador Nikki Haley, or former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to join the Trump Administration, which is currently in formation,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Responding to the snub, Nikki said she was not interested in being in Trump’s cabinet and claimed that the 78-year-old GOP leader already knew about it.

(With inputs from agencies)