Tulsi Gabbard Says CNN Did Not Explain Why She Is Excluded From Upcoming Town Hall

Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard was not invited to CNN’s upcoming town halls ahead of the New Hampshire primary on February 11. According to Breitbart, Gabbard told Fox News that he has not received an explanation for the exclusion.

“We have reached out, I think, more than once, and we received no explanation,” Gabbard said.

“I don’t even think we’ve gotten a response to date about why they’re excluding the first female combat veteran ever to run for president, the only woman of color in the race.”

The Hawaii representative claims her camp is still waiting on a response. She said her exclusion from the town halls is a “disservice” to New Hampshire voters, as well as those across the country who want to tune in to hear what she believes ahead of Election Day.

The candidates attending the event are former Vice President Joe Biden, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Venture for America founder Andrew Yang, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, businessman Tom Steyer and former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick — the last of whom is polling lower than Gabbard.

Per Townhall, one of the reasons CNN decided to cut ties with Gabbard is due to her attack on the network during one of the CNN-hosted Democratic presidential debates.

“Not only that but, the New York Times and CNN have also smeared veterans like myself for calling for an end to this regime change war. Just two days ago the New York Times put out an article saying that I’m a Russian asset and an Assad apologist and all these different smears.”

Gabbard also pointed to CNN analyst Bakari Sellers accusing her of being a Russian asset on national television, as Newsweek reported at the time.

“Completely despicable,” she said.

Asked about not being invited to the @CNN town halls next week in NH, @TulsiGabbard tells @foxnewspolitics "we received no explanation. I don't even think we've gotten a response to date about why they're excluding the first female combat veteran ever to run for president" #FITN pic.twitter.com/njxusUoXWt

— Paul Steinhauser (@steinhauserNH1) January 28, 2020

It’s not the first high-profile feud for Gabbard during her presidential run or political career. She recently sued Hillary Clinton for the former Secretary of State’s implication that she is an asset Russia is grooming for a third-party run. Before the lawsuit, Gabbard was vocal about her opposition to Clinton’s foreign policy legacy and belief that Clinton is a neoconservative.

Back in 2016, Gabbard stepped down from her position on the Democratic National Committee (DNC) after what she perceived as bias against Sanders. The decision has pushed some to claim that many of the attacks on Gabbard from Clinton and DNC allies are due to her decision to buck the party.