Sen. Mike Rounds Suggests Russian Disinformation Is Fueling Border Deal Opposition

Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) suggests that Russian influence has manipulated opponents of a border compromise that could usher in 5,000 or more migrants per day.

Parroting similar talking points about Russian influence to Hillary Clinton’s failed 2016 presidential campaign, Rounds seems to suggest that Russian disinformation about the border components or a broader deal, including aid to Ukraine, is to blame for the yet-unseen deal’s opposition.

Rounds said Wednesday, “I suspect that a lot of the internet rumors are very well coming from overseas, where they would love to see this shut down because some people would rather not see funding for Ukraine.”

A group of Senate negotiators has been working for months on a compromise package pairing border security measures with tens of millions of dollars in foreign aid, mostly to Ukraine. As draft details of the deal’s border components have leaked, the bill’s prospects have increasingly dimmed.

Senators have quickly chastised the deal’s skeptics, repeatedly insisting that leaked details are not actually included. Yet paradoxically, they seem unwilling or unable to provide any information on what the bill actually contains.

Lead Republican negotiator Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) has also claimed “internet rumors” are to blame for the bill’s unpopularity, although he offered few details on the bill other than increased funding for measures generally unpopular with the Republican base, such as more funding for policies to intake and house migrants.

The Senate is taking time off before reconvening Monday — a day earlier than previously scheduled — amid speculation that the bill’s reveal is imminent.

Bradley Jaye is a Capitol Hill Correspondent for Breitbart News. Follow him on X/Twitter at @BradleyAJaye.