Say what you will about Lindsey Graham; he has a knack for saying enlightening — and subtly honest — things about why the official Republican Party remains in Donald Trump’s grip.
It’s because it has no idea how to do anything else.
The most recent episode came when the Republican senator from South Carolina weighed in on Rep. Liz Cheney’s (R-Wyo.) impending excommunication from House GOP leadership. Continue reading.
The South Carolina senator repeatedly spouted lies about immigration in a recent interview.
GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham (SC) in a media appearance on Monday unleashed a torrent of false and misleading claims about immigration and family reunifications.
The South Carolina senator went on Fox News to push a series of xenophobic talking points popular at the moment with Republican lawmakers who claim there is a crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border, with large numbers of immigrants entering the country.
“I’ve never seen so many incentives for illegal immigration as I see today,” he claimed. “If you’re 16 and younger, we’re gonna make sure you never leave the country. If you have a family member here illegally, we’re gonna pay to reunite the family illegally. That incentivizes more illegal immigration.” Continue reading.
Axios reporter Jonathan Swan famously became a meme during an interview with then-President Donald Trump. During an interview with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) Swan questioned the Trump golfing buddy about the future of the GOP and the former president.
Swan asked Graham about encouraging Trump to run again in 2024 when he made it clear that he can’t believe Graham would do something like that.
“I just don’t understand how you could — you don’t really believe that, do you? You’re just BSing so he doesn’t go off and form a third party?” Swan said, frankly. Continue reading.
Costco CEO Craig Jelinek clashed with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Thursday about the need for a minimum wage increase.
Graham opened his remarks at the Senate Budget Committee hearing by insisting that a minimum wage increase would hurt small businesses in his state. He argued that lawmakers would have “decades” to discuss a wage increase but said now is “not the time” because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The South Carolina Republican then directed a series of questions to Jelinek, who testified that Costco is paying its employees at least $15 per hour. Continue reading.
On Sunday, NBC’s “Meet the Press” interviewed United States Senator Ron Johnson. ABC’s “This Week” interviewed House Minority Whip Steve Scalise. CBS’s “Face the Nation” interviewed United States Senator Lindsey Graham. “Fox News Sunday” interviewed United States Senator Rand Paul. They’re Republicans and they had a message for a combined television audience of millions: Donald Trump won.
Not in those exact words, but that was the clear implication. This thing or that thing—it didn’t really matter what thing—meant in their “view” that the former president was robbed and the legitimacy of the current president, Joe Biden, is somehow suspect.
I bring this up not because yesterday was a disaster for journalism and the integrity of the public square (though it was that). I bring this up because it seems to me an answer to the question that haunts democratic discourse: How does a republic deal with parties that lie so intensely, so voluminously and so shamelessly? Some say we should afford them the same respect we ourselves would expect. If we call them liars, that might encourage them to lie more given the outrage of being called liars. Better to check their facts, state the truth and move on in hopes that they behave in kind. Continue reading.
In a profile of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) in the Washington Post, close associates of the GOP lawmaker state that he is going “all in” to continue to support former President Donald Trump and set himself up as the leader of the Trump wing of the party and that has some of them wondering what has happened to him.
While Trump’s influence with the GOP appears to be dissipating — with a battle with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) for control of the party about to take center stage according to Politico — Graham is throwing in with the ex-president, speaking with him almost daily and wrangling invites to Mar-a-Lago for weekends of golf.
“Graham’s post-presidential embrace of Trump — which puts him squarely at odds with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) — is the latest twist in his on-again, off-again relationship with a man he once called a ‘kook’ and warned could destroy the party,” the Post report states. “It comes after the four-term senator said he reviewed polling in South Carolina and across the country that shows Trump’s enduring strength among Republicans, even after the Jan. 6 insurrection that resulted in five deaths.” Continue reading.
An Atlanta-area prosecutor plans to scrutinize a post-Election Day phone call between Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger as part of a criminal investigation into whether former president Donald Trump or his allies broke Georgia laws while trying to reverse his defeat in the state, according to a person familiar with the probe.
The individual, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the ongoing probe, said the inquiry by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis will include an examination of the call Graham, a staunch Trump ally, made to Raffensperger 10 days after the Nov. 3 election.
During their conversation, Graham asked the Georgia secretary of state whether he had the power to toss out all mail ballots in certain counties, Raffensperger told The Washington Post in an interview days later. He said Graham appeared to be asking him to improperly find a way to set aside legally cast ballots. Continue reading.
Graham, Lee, and Cruz aren’t just ignoring their impeachment oath, they’re flaunting their indifference to their responsibilities.
Donald Trump’s Senate impeachment proceedings is only a “trial” in a colloquial sense. Many Americans have some sense of how a case is tried in court, and this isn’t it.
Sen. Pat Leahy (D-Vt.), for example, is overseeing the proceedings, while also serving as a “juror.” He’s also, incidentally, a witness to the crime. In fact, in this case, each of the jurors are witnesses, which in a normal trial would never be permissible.
And because the usual rules and procedures of an American trial do not apply to the Senate’s impeachment proceedings, it stands to reason that there will be dramatic differences in how senators approach their responsibilities. But by any sensible measure, it’s tough to defend tactics like these. Continue reading.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham was accused Tuesday of exercising “the last vestiges of power” by obstructing—again—Senate confirmation of Merrick Garland.
President Joe Biden last month tapped Garland—whose 2016 nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court was blocked by the then-Republican controlled Senate—to be U.S. attorney general.
Graham (R-S.C.) is able to exert the control over the new nomination even though his party no longer controls the chamber, as Politico explained Monday: Continue reading.
U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham insists he and the GOP have nothing to apologize for, and is lambasting Democrats who think they do. The South Carolina Republican who was now-former President Donald Trump’s top supporter, defender, and confidant in the Senate was asked if he thinks he should apologize now that the nation has a new president.
“For what?” the defiant Graham, who has held public office for nearly three decades, repeatedly asked CBS News’ Marge Brennan.
“Is there an apology for the broader misconception, the lies you talked about?” Brennan politely pressed, not spelling out that Graham for months spread lies about the 2020 election. Continue reading.
