When President-elect Donald Trump nominated former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) to be his director of national intelligence, an outcry of opposition erupted from pro-interventionist Democrats, neoconservative war hawks, and their media allies.

Gabbard just received a huge nod of approval for that prospective role from hundreds of her fellow military veterans, however, who vouched for her loyalty, patriotism, and aversion to unnecessary U.S. involvement in foreign conflicts, the New York Post reported.

The message of support came just a few days after Gabbard's critics were bolstered by a joint message of opposition from nearly a hundred former intelligence officials who decried her being Trump's DNI pick and expressed concerns about how she would handle the critical role overseeing the nation's several intelligence agencies.

Veterans support Gabbard

"President Donald Trump’s selection of Tulsi Gabbard reflects a profound recognition of her steadfast dedication to our nation and her unwavering commitment to safeguarding the American people," more than 250 military veterans said in a letter published on Monday, according to The Post Millennial.

"While most Americans know Tulsi as a fearless and principled Congresswoman who stood up to entrenched political systems, we know her as a fellow veteran -- one whose worldview was forged through the crucible of serving in combat zones and a lifelong devotion to service," the veterans continued.

As for the "baseless lies" Gabbard's critics have used to attack her character but not her policy views, the veterans said in the letter, "We are appalled by the baseless attacks questioning Tulsi’s loyalty to our great nation. For over 20 years and across multiple combat deployments, Tulsi has risked her life to defend the safety, security, and freedom of the American people. These attacks insult not only her, but every one of us Veterans who have served our country."

"We are deeply grateful to President Trump for appointing Tulsi Gabbard to this critical role and proud to stand beside her -- a leader whose courage and convictions we know firsthand," the veterans added. "A warrior whose vote cannot be bought, and whose integrity cannot be folded. We are honored to call her one of our own."

Former intel and natsec officials oppose Gabbard

That positive letter from Gabbard's fellow veterans came just a few days after NBC News reported last week on a letter from around 100 deeply "alarmed" former intelligence and national security officials who sharply criticized the former congresswoman and National Guard combat veteran over her supposed disloyalty to the country and purported alignment with the nation's enemies and rivals.

"Several of Ms. Gabbard’s past actions call into question her ability to deliver unbiased intelligence briefings to the President, Congress, and to the entire national security apparatus," the former officials said as they recounted dubious prior accusations that Gabbard was a Russian "asset" who supported the now-deposed Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, among other allegations.

The letter further urged senators to hold closed-door hearings to review any potentially classified negative information about Gabbard and warned of possible negative consequences if she was confirmed, but the Trump transition team wasted no time in firing back with a statement in support of the embattled nominee.

"These unfounded attacks are from the same geniuses who have blood on their hands from decades of faulty 'intelligence,' including the non-existent weapons of mass destruction," Trump spokesperson Alexa Henning said. "These intel officials continue to use classification as a partisan weapon to smear and imply things about their political enemy without putting the facts out."

Gabbard meeting with senators this week

Meanwhile, Politico reported on Monday that Gabbard has gone on "offense" against her opposition and is meeting with several key senators on the Intelligence Community and others whose votes may prove critical to her confirmation, including some Democrats the newly-registered Republican may still be on friendly terms with, such as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).

The point of those meetings is to push back head-on against the criticism she faces and convince any skeptics that she is the right person for the job, with one unnamed source close to the former congresswoman saying of Gabbard, "She is very prepared, because it’s the same s--t people have been throwing at her for years. She’s not easily rocked by anything."

Thus far, though some Republican senators have suggested that they'll have some tough questions for the nominee, none have openly expressed their plans to vote against her, and some have even optimistically predicted that she'll be confirmed fairly quickly, perhaps by all of the GOP senators and even a handful of Democrats.