Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) said Tuesday on MSNBC’s “The ReidOut” that some Republican lawmakers were cynically using the issue of illegal immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border to block funding for the Ukraine-Russia war.
Anchor Joy Reid said, “I want to start with Ukraine. In the House, as well as some in the United States Senate, there is this resistance to providing funding for Ukraine, which is still suffering this attack from Russia. They are trying to trade things like border policy border security for funding. J.D. Vance saying basically, Ukraine should cede land and cut a deal. What is going on on the other side of the aisle?”
Warnock said, “That’s a very good question. This is politics in the worst sense of the word. There is no replacement for American leadership in the world. I have had occasion now on a few opportunities to hear President Zelenskyy, to meet him, and I think he’s just a very impressive person who is standing up in a critical moment, not only for his country but in terms of the world order.”
He continued, “It’s unfortunate that I have colleagues who are reducing such an important geopolitical crisis to typical political horse-trading. Look, there are issues at the border, and they need to be addressed. I, for one, am open to any reasonable bipartisan proposal that will get there on the way to what we really need is: comprehensive immigration reform. But this is one of the most fraught issues in our political system. And so unfortunately, not everybody, not all the Republicans, but on the other side, you have some Republicans who are not willing to support Ukraine, no matter what.”
Warnock added, “They’re just using this issue of the border, which is very serious, in the most cynical way. I hope that, at the end of the day, cooler heads will prevail. Certainly, we don’t want to see American soldiers on the ground as Putin continues his aggressive move across Europe. I think it only makes sense for us to support our friends in Ukraine.”
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