Hillary claimed earlier today that Tulsi Gabbard was being groomed by Russia as a third-party spoiler in swing states. This afternoon, Gabbard responded with fury on Twitter calling Clinton “the queen of warmongers” and the “embodiment of corruption.” She also suggested that Hillary has been working against her candidacy behind the scenes:

Great! Thank you @HillaryClinton. You, the queen of warmongers, embodiment of corruption, and personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party for so long, have finally come out from behind the curtain. From the day I announced my candidacy, there has been a …

— Tulsi Gabbard 🌺 (@TulsiGabbard) October 18, 2019

… powerful allies in the corporate media and war machine, afraid of the threat I pose.

It’s now clear that this primary is between you and me. Don’t cowardly hide behind your proxies. Join the race directly.

— Tulsi Gabbard 🌺 (@TulsiGabbard) October 18, 2019

Gabbard isn’t just imagining that Clinton-world (and the media) seem to be out to get her. Just last weekend the NY Times ran a piece titled, “What, Exactly, Is Tulsi Gabbard Up To?” which attempted to connect Gabbard to the alt-right. Here’s how the story opened:

Stephen K. Bannon, President Trump’s former chief strategist, is impressed with her political talent. Richard B. Spencer, the white nationalist leader, says he could vote for her. Former Representative Ron Paul praises her “libertarian instincts,” while Franklin Graham, the influential evangelist, finds her “refreshing.”

And far-right conspiracy theorists like Mike Cernovich see a certain MAGA sais quoi.

Eventually, the story gets around to quoting Clinton-world figures attacking Gabbard, including the claim that she could be a “useful vector” for the Russians:

“She’s taken a series of policy steps which signal to the right that she has deep areas of alignment,” said Neera Tanden, a longtime policy adviser to Hillary Clinton who now leads the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank…

Laura Rosenberger, a former policy aide to Mrs. Clinton’s campaign and director of the Alliance, sees Ms. Gabbard as a potentially useful vector for Russian efforts to sow division within the Democratic Party.

“The Russian activity could be part of a longer-term effort to drive a wedge among Democrats,” she said. “This messaging has echoes of 2016.”

So the claims Hillary made this morning about Gabbard were already trial ballooned by Clinton-world figures in the NY Times. There could be a political motivation for this. Kamala Harris was the candidate who seemed coziest with Hillary Clinton. Gabbard’s attack on Harris’ record as a prosecutor during an earlier debate really left a mark. Maybe this is payback? Whatever Clinton’s motive, plenty of progressives seem to be doubling down on Hillary’s latest Russian conspiracy theory:

When Stephen Bannon, Richard Spencer, Franklin Graham, Mike Cernovich, and other alt right white supremacists support Tulsi Gabbard, you know that she’s on the wrong side. Hopefully Tulsi doesn’t run as an Independent out of spite to help Putin’s Russia and re-elect Trump.

— Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) October 18, 2019

And yet here we are, with you having failed once again to deny or refute any of her claims.

— Anita Creamer (@AnitaCreamer) October 18, 2019

Let us guess: you’re so upset about the rigged primary that you’re going to run as a third-party candidate.

P.S.: how’d the vote go on H J RES 77?

— Amy Siskind 🏳️‍🌈 (@Amy_Siskind) October 18, 2019

https://twitter.com/Kno/status/1185300655742697472

There are lots more like this from people who don’t have blue checks or large follower counts. But despite the negative reactions, Gabbard’s tweet has more than 80k likes and 25k retweets at this point. She seems to have a lot more supporters than detractors.

Hillary will probably feel obligated to issue a snarky response to this. My guess is she’s having her staff brainstorm one now but nothing so far.