Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a potential 2020 White House contender, is accusing some of her fellow Democrats of "religious bigotry" in their questioning of one of President Trump's judicial nominees.
Gabbard's claim, made in an op-ed in the Hill newspaper, drew a rebuke Wednesday from another Hawaii Democrat, Sen. Mazie Hirono.
In the op-ed, Gabbard did not name any names. But she argued that some lawmakers had gone too far in their questioning of Brian Buescher, whom Trump nominated in October to serve as a district judge.
"While I oppose the nomination of Brian Buescher to the U.S. District Court in Nebraska, I stand strongly against those who are fomenting religious bigotry, citing as disqualifiers Buescher's Catholicism and his affiliation with the Knights of Columbus," Gabbard said in the op-ed.
Buescher was a Republican candidate for Nebraska attorney general in 2014.
During his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee in November, and in written questions that he answered in early December, Buescher was asked about his public statements during his 2014 campaign, his position on issues such as abortion as well as his membership in the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal society.
The organization has in recent years taken steps into the political realm, funding anti-same-sex marriage initiatives in a number of states.