Christine Quinn, a former New York City councilwoman and ardent Hillary Clinton supporter, said Monday that every Democrat running for president would be preferable to President Donald Trump, except for Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D., Hawaii).
"I'm not endorsing anybody in the Democratic primary at this point. Every single solitary Democrat, except for Tulsi Gabbard—well, she's just a whole different situation," Quinn told MSNBC anchor Hallie Jackson. "But basically anyone running for president in the Democratic primary right now would far surpass Donald Trump, there's no question."
Quinn singled out Gabbard when Jackson asked if she thought former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, who jumped into the Democratic primary on Sunday, would be a good president. The remark resembles Clinton's multiple attacks on the Hawaii congresswoman. Quinn and Clinton are notably close, with the former councilwoman joining Clinton at the Javits Center in New York City during her historic loss to Trump in 2016.
The feud between Clinton and Gabbard began when Clinton accused the congresswoman of being a Russian asset and working with the Russians to get Trump reelected. Gabbard responded by calling on Clinton to join the Democratic primary instead of being "cowardly" and hiding behind proxies.
The feud has caused establishment party figures to come out against Gabbard. Sen. Kamala Harris (D., Calif.) castigated Gabbard during the most recent Democratic debate for going on Fox News and attacking former president Barack Obama. Democratic senators who are not running for president have also criticized Gabbard, mainly for her foreign policy views.