The head of the U.S. intelligence community must be willing and able to distinguish between democracies and autocracies, and separate propaganda from reality. It’s that her long-standing pattern of embracing and amplifying Russian propaganda speaks to her poor judgment and tenuous allegiance to the truth. But military service alone doesn’t ensure one is qualified to lead the intelligence community. Like Flynn, Gabbard has a troubling record of promoting disinformation that is damaging to U.S. interests and the intelligence community she is being asked to lead. And in 2022, she amplified debunked Russian propaganda about the existence of U.S.-funded biolabs in Ukraine, propaganda that was used by Russian President Vladimir Putin to justify his aggression.

Source: Washington Post November 16, 2024 23:08 UTC