Her TV appearances and social media campaign is drawing scathing criticism from Vindman’s lawyer as a “testament to cowardice,” receiving little back-up from fellow Republicans and being savaged by Democratic senators.

In an interview, Blackburn defended her remarks about the National Security Council official and said she is only reiterating concerns she’s hearing from other military officials about Vindman for going “outside of his chain of command.” Vindman, a decorated Army veteran and Ukraine specialist, also testified that a top White House lawyer told him to remain silent about his concerns over Trump’s call. And she seemed to take the criticism in stride.

“I work with a lot of military folks and they all had questions about him as someone in uniform,” Blackburn said. “They were offended. That what he would do is go against, try to undermine the commander in chief. And so we have weighed in on that.”

The blowback against Blackburn has been immediate, though so far mostly from Democrats. Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware said Blackburn’s comments are “not deserving of a response,” while Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut described them as “utterly repugnant and reprehensible.” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on MSNBC that the Tennessee Republican’s comments speak for themselves and “to quote Franklin D. Roosevelt, it will go down in infamy.”

“Somebody who has put his life on the line for our country, and he needs to be treated with respect even if you don’t agree with what he’s done,” added Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.).

Blackburn’s allegations that Vindman is tied to the whistleblower and ignored the chain of command are in part based on a story from conservative writer Paul Sperry and testimony from Tim Morrison, a top White House national security aide. Morrison told House impeachment investigators that there were concerns about the lieutenant colonel's judgment and that he wished Vindman had spoken to him first about the July 25 call instead of going straight to a White House lawyer to express his concerns.

When asked about the response from Vindman’s lawyer, Ambassador David Pressman, calling her actions “a testament to cowardice,” Blackburn responded “talk is cheap” and hit Vindman for choosing to “have a lawyer instead of going through his chain of command to have an outside attorney.”