Schumer and GOP Senator Rounds Tout ‘Broad, Bipartisan’ Support for Ukraine Funding on CNN

Political wonks know that the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives can be, respectively, compared to the grown-ups and the kids’ table. That was apparent when Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) appeared on CNN to discuss where Democrats and Republicans are actually trying to work together, namely on funding to support Ukraine.

In a conversation with CNN anchor Sara Sidner about Wednesday’s Senate Judiciary Hearing on Artificial Intelligence, Schumer and Rounds presented a united front on how to best regulate the rapidly advancing technology and the implications it has for Americans of all walks of life. Probably seeing an opportunity to ask a Republican and a Democrat, both in good moods, a more pressing question, Sidner ended the segment with a question about funding support for Ukraine, something that is a more contentious issue in the House. With the caveat that it might be a “divisive” question, Sidner proceeded after some baseball banter:

Do you both support funding Ukraine? Because it’s something that was taken out by [House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)] in this upcoming, very important vote to try and keep the government running here in the U.S.

But the answer was anything but divisive:

Rounds: We we have to provide the Ukrainians with the military muscle they need to win back their territory. Absolutely. We have to support Ukraine.

Schumer: We completely agree on that. [Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)] and I agree on that. If we let [Russian President Vladimir Putin], who is a ruthless dictator, win in Ukraine, people think, oh, then it’s over. No way. For in a few years we could be involved in the Baltic countries, or in Belarus or in, even Poland. So, the Ukrainians are not asking us for troops. They’re not asking us to risk American lives. All they’re asking us for is the kind of military and material support they need. And while there are some in both parties who don’t want to do it, there’s broad, bipartisan support amidst the mainstream of both the Democratic and Republican parties in the Senate to get that done.

Watch the full video, with bipartisan baseball banter, via CNN.

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