Did White House post misleading video of Tulsi Gabbard over Iran's nuclear weapon amid her 'clash' with Trump?

A highly misleading video of United States National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard was reportedly posted from a White House media account in which she appears to bolster the argument that Iran is getting dangerously close to developing a nuclear bomb. However, in reality, she just told the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence that the US intel community did not believe Iran was building a nuclear weapon. The director of national intelligence told lawmakers that Tehran has large amounts of enriched uranium but has not made a decision to rush toward building an atomic bomb.

White House posts 'misleading' video of Gabbard

The clip shared by @RapidResponse47, begins with Gabbard saying, “In the past year, we’ve seen an erosion of a decades-long taboo in Iran on discussing nuclear weapons in public, likely emboldening nuclear weapons advocates within Iran’s decision-making apparatus.” She continues: “Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile is at its highest levels and is unprecedented for a state without nuclear weapons.” The edited clip begins just after she made that explicit clear.



The decision to use a clip of Gabbard to make the case that Tehran was close to developing a nuclear weapon came after Trump lost his cool with his director of national intelligence for criticizing the case for war, reports Daily Beast. During her Congressional hearing in March, Tulsi Gabbard had severely downplayed the threat.

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“The IC continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader Khamanei has not authorized the nuclear weapons program he suspended in 2003,” she said. “The IC is closely monitoring if Tehran decides to reauthorize its nuclear weapons program.”

However, comments by President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have painted a different picture, suggesting that Iran is racing toward creating a nuclear weapon. Tulsi's comment was at odds with Trump’s recent public statement about the threat posed by Iran’s potential nuclear program.

Trump dismisses Gabbard's claims

Trump has publicly dismissed Gabbard’s influence on his decision-making regarding any role the US would have in aiding Israel against Iran. “I don’t care what she said. I think they were very close to having one,” Trump told reporters Tuesday on Air Force One.

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A person with knowledge of the matter told NBC News the US intelligence community’s view has not changed since Gabbard’s testimony in March. But the idea that a president would openly refute his director of national intelligence immediately spurred questions about whether she is now iced out of decision-making on the issue.

Gabbard’s video a few weeks ago claiming that the “political elite and warmongers” were “carelessly fomenting fear and tensions between nuclear powers” didn’t sit well with him, either.

“I don’t think he dislikes Tulsi as a person… But certainly the video made him not super hot on her… and he doesn’t like it when people are off message,” a senior administration official told Politico.