Tulsi Gabbard is a 'heat shield' covering for a 'more dangerous' nominee: lawmaker

Tulsi Gabbard could serve as a "heat shield" that protects a "more dangerous" Donald Trump administration pick, a Democratic lawmaker said on Sunday.

Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA), who previously flipped the script on a Fox News host over Trump's debate, appeared on MSNBC over the weekend to discuss the president-elect's nominations.

Speaking about Trump's recent appearance with Pete Hegseth and Tulsi Gabbard at the annual Army-Navy game, Auchincloss said, "I'm just happy RFK wasn't there with them."

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"Unfortunately looking at the last decade what is the case with Senate Republicans is they huff and they puff and then fold to Donald Trump. My presumption is they're going to do similarly with these two picks, even though both of them are grossly unqualified for office," Auchincloss said. "I imagine that these one on ones that Tulsi Gabbard is having are really painful because she's a Bashar al-Assad apologist trying to talk to Senators, many of whom know their stuff on foreign policy at a time when current events in Syria are front and center."

He added, "I bet she's in over her head and coming across as both suspect and unqualified for the post."

"But my concern is she's going to be a heat shield for RFK and RFK is, if anything, more dangerous than Gabbard in the role that he is trying to assume," the lawmaker added. "His number one legal aide is a committed anti-vaxxer who is going to be going after not just the polio vaccine but the measles vaccine as well at a time when there's a half dozen states in this country where herd immunity rates for measles are hovering at the level below which there will be outbreaks."

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