The United States must "stop pretending" that Saudi Arabia is its ally, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, said in an interview airing Friday, and if elected as president, one of her first acts would be to make sure that happens.
“Saudi Arabia is one of the biggest voices pushing this administration towards a war with Iran," Gabbard told Hill.TV. "That would be directly counter to the interests of the American people and purely for Saudi Arabia’s benefit."
She added that there is a whole "laundry" list that shows that even though the "policy establishment" claims Saudi Arabia and the United States are allies "and they're battling terrorism and all of these things — they’re simply not true. Their interests are not serving the interest of the American people."
Gabbard's comments about Saudi Arabia come after President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman were spotted at the G-20 summit in Japan talking and after they posed next to each other in a group photo of world leaders.
Last week, the Senate voted to block the president's planned arms deal with Saudi Arabia.