In a Twitter message posted on Saturday, President Donald Trump mocked former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
The president ridiculed Clinton for suggesting that Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard and the Green Party’s 2016 nominee for president Jill Stein are being propped up by Russia.
“So now Crooked Hillary is at it again!” Trump began.
“She is calling Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard ‘a Russian favorite,’ and Jill Stein ‘a Russian asset,’” he observed, before pointing out that he has been accused of working with the Kremlin as well.
“As you may have heard, I was called a big Russia lover also (actually, I do like Russian people. I like all people!),” the president wrote.
“Hillary’s gone Crazy!” Trump concluded.
In an earlier Twitter post, the president focused exclusively on Stein, whom he called a “respected environmentalist,” while insulting Clinton as “Crooked.”
The former secretary of state and Trump’s 2016 opponent caused controversy earlier this week when she said that the Kremlin is “grooming” Gabbard to run as a third-party candidate.
Clinton did not substantiate her claims with evidence, causing even some Democrats to denounce her statements.
White House hopefuls Beto O’Rourke and Andrew Yang dismissed the former secretary of state’s claims, pointing to Gabbard’s military service to suggest that such allegations are inappropriate.
“Tulsi is not being groomed by anyone. She is her own person,” O’Rourke said.
Independent Congressman Justin Amash echoed O’Rourke and Yang, going a step further and accusing Clinton of being a Trump asset.
Amash suggested that Clinton’s unsubstantiated claims only make it easier for Trump and his allies to dismiss any allegations of collusion with the Kremlin.
CNN hosts Erin Burnett and Van Jones pushed back against Clinton’s claims as well, with Burnett describing them as a “conspiracy theory,” and Jones imploring Clinton and other prominent politicians to refrain from using “smear” tactics to discredit a perceived political opponent.
Although this was the first time for Clinton to accuse Gabbard of working for Russia, it is not the first time for her to accuse Stein of being a puppet of the Kremlin.
As the BBC reported, in her memoir, What Happened , Clinton said that Stein acted as a spoiler, handing the election to Trump.
“Stein didn’t have much visibility during the election cycle,” according to the publication, and “her performance probably was more a reflection of dissatisfaction with Ms. Clinton.”
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard: “As much as Hillary Clinton would love for me to run as an independent or third party candidate, I am not entertaining that. I will not do that. I am a Democrat.” pic.twitter.com/f6OLBm0iSX
— The Hill (@thehill) October 19, 2019
Apart from blaming Stein for her 2016 election loss, Clinton has also blamed former FBI Director James Comey, Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, former President Barack Obama, Russian President Vladimir Putin, the media, misogyny, and herself.