President Trump explains why he gives Tulsi Gabbard 'a lot of respect' — and takes shot at Hillary

President Donald Trump said Saturday that he has "a lot of respect" for Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), one of the candidates running for the Democratic presidential nomination.

"I give her respect. She didn't vote the other day. I give her a lot of respect because she knew it was wrong," Trump said at a Turning Point USA conference in Florida.

In praising Gabbard, Trump also took a shot at Hillary Clinton, who earlier this fall suggested that Gabbard is "the favorite of the Russians" in the field of Democratic presidential contenders.

"I don't know her, but I know one thing: She is not an agent of Russia," Trump said.

On Wednesday, when the full House voted to impeach the president, Gabbard voted "present" on both articles of impeachment, one for abuse of power and another for obstruction of Congress. The vote meant that Gabbard neither voted for nor against impeachment.

She was just one of four Democrats who did not vote in favor of Trump's impeachment on both counts.

Reps. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) and Jeff Van Drew (N.J.) voted against both articles, while Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) voted only for the article accusing Trump of abuse of power, but not the article accusing him of obstructing Congress.

However, after his vote against impeachment, Van Drew officially joined the Republican Party.