"Traitor" - Martina Navratilova slams Donald Trump's cabinet pick Tulsi Gabbard, dismisses claims of her patriotism as "baloney"

Former tennis professional Martina Navratilova has slammed Donald Trump's cabinet pick Tulsi Gabbard. Navratilova dismissed claims of Gabbard being considered a patriot.

Trump appointed Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence last month after winning the 2024 presidential elections, defeating Democrat candidate Kamala Harris. Interestingly, Gabbard was a member of the Democratic Party before joining the Republicans in 2022.

Navratilova recently got involved in a heated debate about Gabbard's disposition with an X user. While the user suggested the Republican was a US patriot, the 18-time Grand Slam champion rubbished those claims.

The thread began after the user slammed 'The Economist' for an article they published on Gabbard and also denounced Navratilova for her political opinions.

Following is Navratilova's conversation with the user:

"Economist is now a puppet of Democrats and the mainstream media?And people like @Martina are also becoming exactly that since she agrees with what Hillary says," the user wrote.

"Hillary was right about everything regarding trump but I certainly do not agree with everything she says - so shut up and speak for yourself, you do not speak for me," Navratilova reverted.

"There is nothing Hillary has ever been right about. If you can’t see that, then you are also just like the rest of establishment Democrats. Tulsi has more patriotism in her than all the corrupt Democrats combined," the user added.

"Ok- I am done with your baloney. Tulsi is if anything a traitor, certainly not a patriot. Bye now," the former World No. 1 wrote.

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"Fear and anger won" - Martina Navratilova's reaction to Donald Trump's victory

Martina Navratilova at the 2024 French Open women's presentation ceremony. (Getty)

Martina Navratilova has been quite vocal in criticizing Donald Trump and his policies. Thus, when Trump defeated Kamala Harris in the presidential elections in November this year, she regretted the outcome, writing:

"Well, Trump won. Fear and anger won. And a country that was born as a racist patriarchy proved beyond any reasonable doubt it still is a racist patriarchy. Not sure when this ceases to be true."

Born in Prague, Navratilova sought political asylum in the United States becoming an American citizen in 1981—at the time of her peak dominance on the women's tour.

Consequently, Martina Navratilova was stripped of her Czech citizenship but she reacquired the title in January 2008—two years after she called time on her professional career that began in the year 1974.