Video: Sen. Mark Warner Says “while we condemn the awfulness and atrocities committed by Hamas in Israel, we also should not fail to call out the atrocities committed by Russia against the Ukrainian people”

There’s a huge amount going on in the world, as well as in our own country, right now, and as always, Sen. Mark Warner’s got some thoughts on it all. See below for video and highlights from his conversation with Virginia media a bit earlier today.

• Sen. Warner reiterated that he’s been “horrified by the atrocities committed by Hamas against the citizens of Israel,” adding that it was “very appropriate that President Biden went and said we stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel against the terrorists, that we will support them militarily, and I join in that support, with the overwhelming majority of members of both parties in Congress.“
• “At the same time,” Sen. Warner added: “I have enormous empathy for the innocent Palestinian civilians, particularly living in Gaza. I think we need to remember, Hamas has been BRUTAL to those Palestinians living in Gaza. In many ways, there’s been some speculation that the timing of this attack was because Hamas had become so unpopular, they needed do something to change the narrative. And I strongly support the humanitarian aid…We’ve got to get that crossing at the southern part of Gaza open now…My hope is we will see today, or the latest by tomorrow, some of this relief assistance coming in.”
• Sen. Warner said Congress needs to approve a supplemental budget package including aid for Israel and Ukraine. According to Sen. Warner, “we can’t take our eyes off the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, and I’m amazed that some members here in Congress who are willing to kind of throw aside Ukraine, give Putin a clear win, yet in the same breath, they say they’re concerned about President Xi and the Communist Party in China. You flunk Geopolitics 101 if you don’t understand that giving Putin a win gives a green light to Xi in terms of his aspirations for Taiwan and elsewhere.“
• “Let’s not forget, while we condemn the awfulness and atrocities committed by Hamas in Israel, we also should not fail to call out the atrocities committed by Russia against the Ukrainian people…It would be a historic mistake if America walked away from that commitment…There is an isolationist group of Republicans who want to desert that…would make Ronald Reagan literally roll in the grave…We need to get this assistance to Israel, to Ukraine, to the border as soon as possible.”
• On the strike on the hospital in Gaza, Sen. Warner said he would “support the intelligence community being as forward leaning as possible, to make sure not only Americans but the world sees the kind of evidence I’ve seen…[Sen. Marco Rubio] and I have seen a level of intelligence that candidly virtually no other Senator has seen…we have a variety of sources...I’ve seen some of the raw intelligence that clearly indicates on the ground that Hamas figures themselves acknowledge that it was not Israel, that it was a separate Palestinian group…the United States and Israel waited to try to get the facts…Hamas who didn’t wait for any facts but put out for its own purposes the accusation that it was Israel means that we’re chasing that story…this was an errant missile from another jihadist group in Gaza. But in this world that we live, where even political figures in America seem to ignore facts, it’s a dangerous time.”
• On the chaos in the House, including the inability of Republicans to select a new Speaker after ousting Kevin McCarthy, Sen. Warner said: “I say this kind of glibly, but while I’ve received lots of classified briefings in the last few days about what’s going on on the ground in Israel…updates on the Ukrainian counteroffensive, getting good intelligence about what’s going to happen out of the House of Representatives, I have no great sources there. My hope is that responsible members of the Republican Party will say this kind of chaos makes no sense, it basically makes our governing structures look foolish in front of…the world…If you don’t think this kind of dysfunction is being celebrated in Moscow and Beijing, then again, you don’t have a basic understanding of geopolitics. So the notional idea that acting Speaker McHenry could be elevated so the people’s business could be done, to me makes a lot of sense…not this kind of circular firing squad amongst some of the most extreme members of the Republican Party.”
• On the Virginia elections, Sen. Warner said: “I think it’s really important that everybody get out to vote…you can vote today…there are polling stations open everywhere…In many ways, the government you’re going to vote for…at the local level…have a direct effect on how all our 8 1/2 million Virginians live; in many ways, those votes actually have more effect than sometimes people’s votes for president, because this is the government that’s closest to you. I obviously believe very strongly that things like protecting a woman’s right to choose, continuing to invest in education, making sure that we keep these voting rights are all on the ballot this year.”
• “I think it was really strong and a sign of experience when the president of the United States said to Israel, listen, we understand and we felt this kind of grief and pain after 9/11 that you are feeling right now. But to have the maturity that the president had to be able to say, but you know what, think about your goals and objectives, because candidly, the United States – greatest power in the world – in the aftermath of 9/11, because we might not have been clear enough what our goals were beyond taking out the perpetrators of the 9/11 attack, the United States may have overdone in terms of a 20+ year war in Afghanistan and close to that in Iraq. And I salute the president for having the courage to say that on the world stage, and I hope our Israeli friends will take that counsel into consideration.”