Van Jones on Friday shredded twice-failed Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton for saying Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) is a "Russian asset." According to the CNN political commentator, Clinton is "playing a very dangerous game" when she suggests Russia is grooming Gabbard, a sitting Congresswoman, to make a third party run for president in 2020.
"She’s playing a very dangerous game," Jones told CNN's Erin Burnett. "Hillary Clinton, if you’re concerned about this information and to spread disinformation, that is what just happened, just throw out some information, disinformation, smear somebody."
Jones suggested the former Secretary of State should hold herself to higher standards.
"She is Hillary Clinton. She’s a legend. She’s going to be in the history books and she’s a former nominee of our party and she just came out against a sitting U.S. Congresswoman, a decorated war veteran and someone running for the nomination of our party with a complete smear and no facts," he explained.
He also made one very important point: this appears to be payback. In 2013, Gabbard was voted in as vice president of the Democratic National Committee. When she started getting involved in the inner workings of the party, she became critical of then-president Debbie Wasserman Schultz. And she was outspoken about that. In early 2016, Gabbard resigned from the DNC and endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders over Clinton. She even gave his nominating speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.
According to Jones, Hillary is playing directly into the Russians' hands by making baseless allegations.
"We have real problems in America, and I’m telling you, Hillary Clinton is playing a very dangerous game. I do not want someone of her stature to legit mate these attacks against anybody," Jones said. "If you’re going to smear people casually on podcasts you are playing into the Russians’ hands."
During a podcast interview on Friday, Clinton accused the Russians of meddling in the 2020 elections by encouraging Gabbard to run third-party in order to cause chaos. Gabbard fired back at Clinton on Twitter, calling her "the queen of warmongers, embodiment of corruption, and personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party."