Did Donald Trump appoint a Russian spy as Director of National Intelligence?

Every piece of news about president-elect Donald Trump’s new cabinet is looking more and more dire. It’s becoming blatantly obvious that he isn’t hiring people based on their qualifications, but rather their loyalty to him. Some of these people might actually pose a serious threat to national security — meet Tulsi Gabbard, the new pick for director of national intelligence, and rumored Russian spy?

We’re seeing all sorts of unlikely characters being given government roles; take Elon Musk for example, yes the man who unironically does Fortnite emotes in 2024 has an official role where he’ll be overseeing other government departments. Anyways this should be all the proof you need to see just how ridiculous the government will look under Trump. Tulsi Gabbard is no exception, with her concerning history of supposedly amplifying Russian propaganda the last place you’d expect to see her working is the head of intelligence.

What do we know about Tulsi Gabbard?

Gabbard served in the Hawaii Army National Guard and also deployed in Iraq, but she frequently criticized U.S. foreign policy, calling it “heavy handed.” It’s worth pointing out that she is also a former Democrat and strong critic of Donald Trump, although she clearly changed her mind about Donald, as she decided to endorse the Republican earlier this year.

The views shared by Gabbard in the past have been pretty questionable. For example, two years ago she was accused of sharing Russian propaganda when she made a video post to social media claiming that “there are 25-30 US-funded biolabs in Ukraine.” The response to the video was pretty much unanimous in calling it what it was — Russian propaganda. Both the U.S. and Ukraine government stated that there was no evidence for the claim.

She also shares Trump’s view that the U.S. should have minimal interference in Ukraine, and has even defended Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade the country. She is very clearly pro-Putin, and she isn’t worried about spreading misinformation. On top of that, she’s expressed sympathy for the president of Syria, Bashar Al-Assad, a man who’s regime is backed by Russia and Iran, and who is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians — she even paid him a visit in 2017.

Finding out that this is the woman who is set to be the new DNI is a little bit concerning, to say the least, especially considering her demonstrated propensity to spread misinformation. The reactions online haven’t been receptive to the idea, with some outright implying that she may be an active Russian agent.

Is Tulsi Gabbard really a Russian spy? Probably not the movie kind of spy, but there’s no denying that she is very pro-Russian, and some think she may even have been paid by the kleptocratic Putin regime to intentionally spread misinformation.

All of this makes you wonder what on earth Trump is thinking by giving her a job. But that’s the thing, Trump doesn’t think, he just does. Tulsi Gabbard being in a position of authority is very worrying but Trump doesn’t care, as long as she’s loyal to him that’s all that matters.