Republicans in recent days have criticized the former secretary of State and Democratic presidential nominee for remarks she made on a podcast with David Plouffe, former President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign manager.

During that interview, Clinton claimed that Russian operatives have “got their eye on somebody who’s currently in the Democratic primary, and they’re grooming her to be the third-party candidate.” Nick Merrill, a Clinton spokesman, later confirmed that she was referring to Gabbard.

“She’s the favorite of the Russians. They have a bunch of sites and bots and other ways of supporting her so far, and that’s assuming Jill Stein will give it up because she’s also a Russian asset,” Clinton told Plouffe, referring to the 2016 Green Party presidential nominee whose candidacy some Democrats complain contributed to Trump’s victory.

Gabbard has denounced Clinton’s charges in a series of tweets and a video statement, blasting her as “the queen of warmongers, embodiment of corruption, and personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party for so long.”

Although Gabbard remains an active participant in the Democratic nominating contest and has appeared in three televised debates, she is the subject of widespread skepticism within the party for her support among fringe conservatives and frequent mentions in Russian media and propaganda.

Democrats have also condemned Gabbard’s past anti-LGBT rhetoric, as well as her isolationist foreign policy perspectives and 2017 meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad — whom she has declined to label a war criminal despite the dictator’s use of chemical weapons to attack his own people.

But there exists no public documentation to substantiate assertions regarding the Kremlin’s backing of Gabbard’s campaign, and some Democrats have dismissed Clinton’s interview as a distraction amid a heated primary battle.

“I don't know what the basis is for that,” Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg told CNN on Sunday, when pressed on whether Gabbard is a Russian asset.

“I think statements like that ought to be backed by evidence,” the South Bend mayor added.

Trump had previously weighed in on the feud between Clinton and Gabbard over the weekend, referencing allegations of his own allegiance to Moscow and his genial relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“So now Crooked Hillary is at it again! She is calling Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard ‘a Russian favorite,’ and Jill Stein ‘a Russian asset,’” he tweeted Saturday. “As you may have heard, I was called a big Russia lover also (actually, I do like Russian people. I like all people!). Hillary’s gone Crazy!”