Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-CA) explained why on Thursday’s broadcast of Fox News Channel’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight” she was suing Hillary Clinton for defamation.

Gabbard argued Clinton’s claim that she was being groomed by the Russians implied she was a traitor, which could have implications on her military career.

Gabbard said, “This is about my life. You know, for so many people in the., they are saying oh well, you know, this is just another news story. But this is my life we are talking about here. For me, as a soldier, as every service member does, I took an oath of loyalty to our country. The country that I love. Willing to put my life on the line for our country deploying twice to the Middle East to do. So still serving in the uniform in the Army National Guard today for almost 17 years. The essence of this service, this love of country, is who I am.”

She added, “So when you have someone as powerful as Hillary Clinton seeking to smear my reputation, essentially implying that I’m a traitor to the country that I love, what she essentially is doing is taking my life away. So what this lawsuit is about is actually valuing the honor and the loyalty and integrity that every one of our service members embodies and saying that no one can try to defame them. We’ll not allow that to go unchecked.”

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