Candidate Gabbard Rips CNN, NY Times

Tulsi Gabbard

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard went after the hosts of Tuesday’s Democratic primary debate — CNN and The New York Times — calling their coverage of her “completely despicable,” according to The NY Post.

Speaking from the debate stage in Ohio, the 38-year-old Iraq War veteran accused the news media and politicians of pushing the conflict in Syria, which she called a “regime change war.”

“Not only that, New York Times and CNN have also smeared veterans like myself for calling for an end to this regime change war,” Gabbard said.

“Just two days ago The New York Times put out an article saying that I’m a Russian asset and an [Syrian President Bashar] al-Assad apologist and all these different smears. This morning a CNN commentator said on national television that I’m an asset of Russia.”

The congresswoman appeared to be referring to an Oct. 12 Times article entitled “What, Exactly, is Tulsi Gabbard Up To?” Hours before the debate, CNN analyst Bakari Sellers called her a “puppet for the Russian government.”

Gabbard — who has been criticized for meeting with Assad during a 2017 trip to war-torn Syria — called on Sen. Elizabeth Warren to join her in demanding an end to the conflict in the country.