'Worst prepared candidate': GOP senator says Trump pick is flaming out in Capitol meetings

Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has not been doing well in courting senators on Capitol Hill to support her possible nomination as the Director of National Intelligence, according to a report.

President-elect Donald Trump declared he wanted the former Democratic presidential candidate on his team early on in the transition process, but she didn't hit Senate offices until Monday.

And Jewish Insider reports that she has not been a hit with some of the senators she's spoken to.

“Her interviews have not been going well,” said one GOP senator, speaking to Jewish Insider anonymously. “One told me she was the worst-prepared candidate and was kind of trying to get by on her BS personality.”

Gabbard's controversial praise of ousted Syrian President Bashar al Assad in Syria is likely one of the questions she's being probed about, the report said. When reporters asked about it, she said she supports Trump's stance and that her personal positions are immaterial.

However, candidates for these posts are usually grilled about their expertise and opinions.

ALSO READ: Agenda 47: Alarm sounded about Trump’s dystopian plans for his second term

“My own views and experiences have been shaped by my multiple deployments and seeing firsthand the cost of war and the threat of Islamist terrorism. It’s one of the many reasons why I appreciate President Trump’s leadership and his election,” Gabbard told reporters.

“He is fully committed, as he has said over and over, to bringing about an end to wars, demonstrating peace through strength, and putting the national security interests and the safety, security and freedom of the American people first and foremost."

Jewish Insider spoke to a Republican senator who hadn't met with Gabbard as of Monday, but who relayed that some members on the Senate Intelligence Committee were confiding in colleagues that they weren't impressed.

“The Intelligence Committee members are really, really concerned about her. Her interviews have not been going well,” the senator said. “So there’s a lot of rumbling among members.”

A second Republican senator who is on the intelligence committee said it was too soon to tell if Gabbard will make it through confirmation.

“I can’t tell; she’s just gotten started. She had her first few meetings today, but she’s got a long way to go,” the senator said, adding that they thought she “did a good job” in her meeting with their office.

Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) said it was a “good first meeting” and an “opportunity to share with her what she’s going to be going through.”

“Part of our job here is not only getting to the point of approval because that’s well over a month away yet, but helping to provide assistance in getting her there,” Rounds said. “So, a lot of it was just advice in terms of the questions that she’s going to get, the questions she’s going to have to be prepared to answer.”

That will include questions about Russia and Syria.

He declined to say if he'll support her nomination, saying he's “just helping.”

Read the full report here.