Washington: Former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, who has been picked by President Donald Trump to oversee spy agencies, Thursday alleged that Democratic senators are trying to foment religious bigotry against Hindus and Hinduism.
Gabbard, 43, who was the first Hindu American elected to the House of Representatives, told this to members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence during her confirmation hearing for the position of the Director of National Intelligence which oversees all the intelligence agencies of the US government, including the CIA and the FBI.
After being nominated by Trump for this position, Gabbard has been slammed by several of her opponents for her Hindu faith.
“Democrat senators in the past resorted to anti-Christian bigotry against some of President Trump’s judicial nominees like Amy Coney Barrett and Brian Buescher. I condemned those actions as a Democrat in Congress at the time, as religious bigotry must be thoroughly condemned by all of us, no matter the religion,” she said.
“Unfortunately, there are some Democrat senators who still don’t understand the principle of freedom of religion and Article 6 of the Constitution. No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States,” she said.
“Unfortunately, they’re once again using the religious bigotry card, but this time trying to foment religious bigotry against Hindus and Hinduism, if anyone is sincerely interested in knowing more about my own personal spiritual path of Hinduism, I welcome you to go to my account on X, where I’ll share more on this topic,” Gabbard said.
PTI