Tulsi Gabbard responded to Hillary Clinton's assertion that Russia is behind a plan to turn the Hawaii congresswoman into a spoiler candidate by calling the former secretary of state the "queen of warmongers" and invited her to join the 2020 Democratic presidential race.

"Great! Thank you @HillaryClinton. You, the queen of warmongers, embodiment of corruption, and personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party for so long, have finally come out from behind the curtain," Gabbard said in a tweet on Friday.

"From the day I announced my candidacy, there has been a concerted campaign to destroy my reputation," Gabbard continued. "We wondered who was behind it and why. Now we know — it was always you, through your proxies and powerful allies in the corporate media and war machine, afraid of the threat I pose. It’s now clear that this primary is between you and me. Don’t cowardly hide behind your proxies. Join the race directly."



Great! Thank you @HillaryClinton. You, the queen of warmongers, embodiment of corruption, and personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party for so long, have finally come out from behind the curtain. From the day I announced my candidacy, there has been a ... — Tulsi Gabbard (@TulsiGabbard) October 18, 2019

... powerful allies in the corporate media and war machine, afraid of the threat I pose.



It’s now clear that this primary is between you and me. Don’t cowardly hide behind your proxies. Join the race directly. — Tulsi Gabbard (@TulsiGabbard) October 18, 2019



A spokesman for Clinton responded to Gabbard's tweets with a quip referencing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who Gabbard met with in 2017.

"Assad day for your candidacy," he tweeted.

Clinton suggested in a podcast released Friday that Russia is grooming Gabbard to be a third-party spoiler candidate in 2020, aiding President Trump's reelection.

"They are also going to do third party again," said Clinton, the unsuccessful Democratic nominee against President Trump in 2016. "I'm not making any predictions, but I think they’ve got their eye on somebody who is currently in the Democratic primary and are grooming her to be the third-party candidate," Clinton said. A Clinton representative later confirmed that she was referring to Gabbard.

"She is a favorite of the Russians. They have a bunch of sites and bots and ways of supporting her so far. That's assuming Jill Stein will give it up, which she might not because she is also a Russian asset," Clinton said. "They know they can't win without a third-party candidate, and so I do not know who it is going to be, but I can guarantee you they will have a vigorous third-party challenge in the key states that they most need it."

[Related: 'If the nesting doll fits': Clinton aide defiant on Tulsi Gabbard 'Russian asset' claim]

Gabbard said in August that she would not run for president as an independent if she does not win the Democratic presidential nomination.

In 2016, Gabbard resigned as the Democratic National Committee's vice charwoman so she could endorse Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders over Clinton in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary.

In addition to being a Hawaii congresswoman, Gabbard is a major in the Hawaii Army National Guard. In 2004, she deployed to Iraq and served as a specialist with a medical company at Camp Anaconda. In 2008 and 2009, she deployed to Kuwait as an Army military police officer and was the primary trainer for the Kuwait National Guard. In August, she took a two-week break from campaigning to complete Army National Guard training in Indonesia.

Accusations of being sympathetic to Russia or being propped up by Russian bots and attention have dogged Gabbard throughout her campaign. During a Democratic presidential primary debate on Tuesday, Gabbard condemned CNN and the New York Times for spreading the accusations. "Just two days ago, the New York Times put out an article saying that I'm a Russian asset and an Assad apologist and all these different smears. This morning, a CNN commentator said on national television that I'm an asset of Russia. Completely despicable," she said.