Former Democrat-turned-Republican Tulsi Gabbard, an ex-congresswoman from Hawaii, was nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to serve as his director of national intelligence, and that pick immediately sparked controversy in the media and among some senators.

Gabbard has been meeting with lawmakers on Capitol Hill over the past few weeks ahead of anticipated confirmation hearings next month, and those meetings are said to have been largely positive, according to the Watchman.

That contradicts initial reports that suggested Gabbard was having difficulty in winning over the support of Republican senators who purportedly have doubts about whether she is the right person to lead the nation's collection of intelligence agencies and be a top advisor to the president.

Gabbard gaining support from GOP senators

Per the Watchman, a Trump transition team spokesperson said last weekend, "After a week of successful meetings with senators on Capitol Hill, Tulsi Gabbard has received an outpouring of support for her confirmation."

A few Republican senators have also publicly expressed their support for Gabbard to become the next DNI, despite criticisms from Democrats and the media and speculation of trouble with some establishment GOPers.

That includes Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), who said following his meeting with the nominee that "any noise from the Uniparty makes her the best choice," while Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Trump's pick for secretary of State, said Gabbard "is a great fit for the DNI role."

Also praising Gabbard was Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who noted that she enjoys "strong backing from veterans and military lawmakers" and said, "The opposition will try to stop her, but they are up against growing support."

Media claimed meetings were "not going well"

That report differs substantially from one just days earlier from Reuters which asserted that at least eight Republican senators, all conveniently left unnamed, were leaning toward not supporting Gabbard's confirmation as President-elect Trump's DNI.

Those holdouts were reported as having questions and doubts about the former congresswoman's limited experience with national intelligence as well as the false narratives from the left about her supposed affinity for recently deposed Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad and alleged parroting of Russian talking points.

A Trump transition spokesperson pushed back against that report, however, and said, "There is not one GOP Senator on the record that opposes Lt. Col. Gabbard's nomination. Again, this is anonymous sources desperately trying to hold on to power, so they hide behind the media to spread these falsities that directly subvert the will of the American people."

The Reuters report bore similarities to one just a few days prior from The Hill that suggested Gabbard was "struggling through her meetings" with senators and that the meetings were "not going well" for the nominee.

Some of the anonymous complaints claimed that Gabbard came across as "shallow" and "not very well prepared," as well as that the meetings amounted to little more than "BS sessions" in which there have been "a lot of eyerolls" from senators and their staffers.

Gabbard dismisses critical reports, says meetings have been "great"

Yet, ABC News reported that Gabbard was unphased by those "meaningless" reports that lacked any on-the-record sourcing, and told reporters, "I don't make anything of reports with anonymous sources."

She insisted she'd had "great meetings" with everyone she's met with thus far, and while she declined to speculate on whether she'd be confirmed or not, Gabbard added, "There's a process, and I'm looking forward to continuing to meet with Senators as we go through this. There is still a ways to go."