A GOP strategist torched a former Trump White House aide on live TV over her "naive" plan to end a raging war.
Republican strategist and CNN commentator Shermichael Singleton tore into Caroline Sunshine on Wednesday's episode of "NewsNight," guest hosted by CNN's Michael Smerconish, after she urged the U.S. to pull funding from Ukraine to force it to negotiate an end to its war with Russia. Singleton called the idea "the most absurd thing" and told her she was "incredibly naive."
The clash broke out during a segment on young men souring on President Donald Trump. Smerconish cited Harvard's latest youth poll, noting nearly 70 percent of men under 30 disapprove of the job Trump is doing.
Sunshine, a former Trump White House aide, laid the blame on the president's staff.
"I want us to win the midterms. But if we don't win, it will be because the president's staff failed to execute his winning playbook in 2024," she said. "We're not live streaming the rallies. We're not making TikToks. We're not going on podcasts. We're not talking to that audience."
She said she had been "dismissed" for months while pushing for appearances with podcasters Joe Rogan and Theo Von.
"I don't think the president's staff trusts his instincts," Sunshine said, before urging Trump to "get a staff that understand where young men are at," to "get Ukraine to the negotiating table" and to "stop listening to" rapper Nicki Minaj.
Singleton immediately jumped in.
"What do you mean get Ukraine to the negotiating table? You mean Russia?" he asked. "What did they do that was unlawful, illegal, immoral and unethical? It wasn't the Ukrainians. It was the Russians."
Sunshine countered that "hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians are dying every day in this war" and argued the U.S. should cut Ukraine off.
"Ukraine is not a NATO ally. The United States has no role in this war except to end it. And the only way that it ends is by yanking funding from Ukraine," she said.
Singleton shot back that it was “the most absurd thing,” as Sunshine insisted she was talking about “ending the war peacefully.” He accused her of being "intellectually dishonest" and blasted the idea of forcing Ukrainians to "come to the table over something they didn't start."
"That's never been the posture of the United States," he said.
As Sunshine kept pressing, Singleton cut her off. "You are incredibly naive," he said. "Why would we put pressure on the Ukrainians instead of the Russians?"
He then questioned whether she grasped the subject at all.
"Do you even understand these issues? No, I don't think you do. I don't think you understand these issues at all," Singleton said.
Smerconish eventually stepped in to move the conversation along.