Lindsey Graham and Bernie Sanders find something they can agree on during Fox debate: 'Putin sucks'
- Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Lindsey Graham, R-SC., don't agree on much.
- But they had a similar take on Vladimir Putin during a debate on Fox Nation, even if they disagreed on how to express it.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Donald-Trump supporting conservative, don't agree on much.
But they had one similar take on Russian leader Vladimir Putin amid his brutal invasion of Ukraine, even if they have different ways of expressing it.
"One thing Bernie and I agree, is that Putin sucks," said Graham, a South Carolina Republican.
The debate on Fox Nation was intended to help leading senators find common ground on policy issues, but the two were at odds on most.
Moderator Bret Baier, however, asked Sanders if he would concede Graham's point on Putin.
"Not in favor of the vulgarity but the intent is correct," said Sanders, a Vermont independent, drawing a laugh from the audience in the Kennedy Institute's full-size replica of the US Senate chamber.
"Putin's a bad guy," Graham said. "There we go. I'll use the other word."
Putin launched the invasion on Feb. 24 on false premises, including that Ukraine was run by Nazis, and after his forces were defeated after suffering heavy casualties on approach to the country's capital they reorganized and are making grinding progress in the eastern Ukraine areas where many Russian-speakers live, often by obliterating villages and infrastructure with artillery.
Russian forces are accused of carrying out mass atrocities, including gunning down civilians whose hands were bound.
Sanders and Graham are former presidential candidates who sit on the Senate Budget Committee, Sanders as chairman and Graham as the top Republican.
The live debate is the first in a series, launched on Monday by the Bipartisan Policy Center, the Orrin G. Hatch Foundation, and the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate. It will also air on Fox News on Saturday, June 18 at 7 p.m.