Jeanne Shaheen: “I don't understand what my colleague is talking about in terms of woke ideology and cultural imperialism. That is not my…”

“I don't understand what my colleague is talking about in terms of woke ideology and cultural imperialism. That is not my understanding of how the State Department works. The State Department and our Ambassadors are there to carry out America's foreign policy no matter who the President is, and that is what David Kostelancik did when he was in Hungary. So I am perplexed by the arguments that are raised by my colleague from Utah. His objections are grounded in baseless rumors that are being spread by Victor Orban. They are not grounded in facts. Here are the facts: Mr. Kostelancik received overwhelming support, bipartisan support, when he was voted out, on two occasions, of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In the 35 years--35 years--of Mr. Kostelancik's service to the U.S. Government, he had never been accused of any political bias until Victor Orban decided that he didn't think he was executing America's foreign policy properly. Mr. Kostelancik has served the American public faithfully across administrations of both parties. He has represented elected leaders' positions. I have spoken with a number of my Republican colleagues. I wish my colleague from Utah were going to stay so I could talk to him about this, because he has gotten support from those Republicans precisely for the reasons I outlined above.…”