Ron Paul says he supports the candidacy of Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, because she is the “very best” Democrat running for president and is “good on foreign policy.”

"Tulsi Gabbard by far is the very, very best," the former Texas congressman said in an interview last week on Russian, state-controlled television network RT. "She is very liberal when it comes to economics. We probably wouldn't agree with too much on economics."

Gabbard, a combat veteran who served overseas in Iraq and Kuwait, announced her 2020 campaign with a video that slammed "both parties who never tire of war.” Paul, who ran for president as a Libertarian candidate in 1988 and in the Republican primaries in 2008 and 2012, is known for backing noninterventionist foreign policy.

"She is good on foreign policy,” Paul said. “She does not want these engagements, which is an economic issue. We'd save a lot of money by not being engaged like this."

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"She's the most intelligent and would be the best," Paul added. "If we had to pick one of them to be our president, I think she would be giving us the best chance as for bringing about peace."

Gabbard is one of more than 20 people running in the Democratic primary race, but has yet to make much of an impression in early polling.