Vance Slams CBS Host Brennan For Trying To Smear Tulsi Gabbard
Vice President J.D. Vance pushed back against CBS anchor Margaret Brennan after she attempted to use selective headlines to criticize Tulsi Gabbard.
During their exchange on CBS, Vance defended Gabbard’s nomination for Director of National Intelligence, dismissing criticism from conservative outlets, stating that they have "lost 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 responded firmly, "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 countered with a dismissive remark, "The Senate will ultimately decide."
"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," Vance explained.
He continued, "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."
Brennan pushed back, "She doesn’t trust those intelligence services."
Vance countered, "She recognizes the bureaucrats have gotten out of control, and we need somebody there who’s going to rein them in and return those services to their core mission of identifying information that’s going to keep us safe."
WATCH:
Gabbard appears to have secured the necessary votes for confirmation on Wednesday.
Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) confirmed their intent to vote for Gabbard’s appointment as Director of National Intelligence.
On Monday, Murkowski, Cassidy, and other Republican senators moved forward with the confirmation process by supporting cloture, while Democratic senators who participated in the vote opposed it.
"I will vote to confirm Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence," Murkowski announced in a post on X.
She elaborated, "While I continue to have concerns about certain positions she has previously taken, I appreciate her commitment to rein in the outsized scope of the agency, while still enabling the ODNI to continue its essential function in upholding national security. As she brings independent thinking and necessary oversight to her new role, I am counting on her to ensure the safety and civil liberties of American citizens remain rigorously protected."
"President Trump chose Tulsi Gabbard to be his point person on foreign intelligence," Cassidy remarked in a statement. "I will trust President Trump on this decision and vote for her confirmation."
Gabbard served in Congress from 2013 to early 2021. In 2022, she announced her departure from the Democratic Party.
She later endorsed Trump for president in 2024 and formally joined the Republican Party last year.