Tulsi Gabbard pulls DNI deputy nominee after GOP pressure over antisemitic remarks
After Gabbard's decision became known, several Republican and conservative figures expressed their satisfaction, arguing that Davis was not the ideal person for such a position.
Tulsi Gabbard
The director of U.S. National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, decided not to appoint investigator Daniel Davis as deputy director of Mission Integration following strong pressure from numerous Republicans who opposed his nomination to the post because of his "neutral" position on the armed conflict between Israel and Gaza and the way he relativized the attacks committed by the Hamas terrorist group in Israel on October 7, 2023 by saying that the atrocitie committed were somehow "convenient" for the Israeli government.
After Gabbard's decision became known, several Republican and conservative figures expressed their satisfaction by arguing that Davis was not the ideal person for such a position, given some political positions on foreign relations, in addition to some comments that have been considered anti-Semitic. One of these figures was political analyst Mark Levin, who even assured that what was done by the director of national intelligence was thanks to the president of the United States, Donald Trump. "According to news reports, Mr. Davis will not be assuming the role of Tulsi Gabbard's Deputy DNI Director. Thanks goes to President Trump!" wrote Levin on his X account.
Before this post, and when some media outlet were reporting that Davis' nomination was going to be oficial anytime soon, the political analyst blast Gabbard in a tweet, where he said "Wow. So bizarre. Fighting anti-Semitism like never before but installing this guy. Before you comment, go online and dig into his views and more. Hard to understand this pick by Gabbard."
Criticism of Davis
The position Davis was opting for is one of the most relevant of all related to U.S. intelligence, since the deputy director of Mission Integration is the figure who oversees the entire production of the Daily Report of the President of the United States. That report is a comprehensive compendium of numerous intelligence assessments that is sent to both policymakers and the White House itself.
Shortly before Gabbard officially cancelled the nomination, many saw Davis' appointment as imminent, with the Anti-Defamation League itself expressing in a statement that the Director of National Intelligence was making a grave error in arguing that Davis' appointment would be "extremely dangerous" to the United States and its allies around the world.
In addition to this group, former U.S. intelligence officials also voiced their deep disapproval of Davis' nomination. One of them was Atlantic Council senior fellow and CIA operations officer Marc Polymeropoulos, who expressed in a statement that his views and ideology were in total discord with the Trump Administration's stance. "His overt criticism of Israel and total opposition to any military action against Iran seems to run counter to current administration policy," Polymeropoulos commented.
Who is Daniel Davis?
On Trump's plan to move Gazans to neighboring countries and have the United States take over the area, Davis went so far as to comment on his X account that such a move was nothing more than "ethnic cleansing." Likewise, the researcher stressed that U.S. support for Israel in the Gaza conflict was a "stain on our character as a nation, as a culture, that will not soon go away."
About the October 7 attacks, Davis said that “Let me say before anyone else brings it up: to those who would scream ‘October 7th!’ let me reply. The history of this conflict did not begin on that day. In the summer PRIOR to 10/7, the IDF was on a brutal fight against Palestinians,” Davis wrote. “And of course this goes back *decades* of repression and the Palestinians in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip being effectively incarcerated, with limited or no freedoms, and no path to a future and a hope.”
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