During the horrendous indignities heaped upon and lies spewed about now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh throughout his confirmation hearings, something snapped in Sen. Lindsey Graham.
The way the Democrats behaved offended him on some deep level, and he unleashed on them in a magnificent, blistering rebuke of their vile, base attacks on Kavanaugh.
I must have watched this video ten times since its release, and each time, I am struck again by how absolutely incensed he is, how deeply affected he is by all that happened. This is not political theater, and you don’t have to understand Southerners (though that helps) to see the force of will he exerts to maintain his composure.
From that moment in September 2018 to this, Graham has not wavered. Sure, he might wake up tomorrow and revert to being Lindsey “Grahamnesty,” but watch that video again. This strikes me as a road to Damascus-type conversion, granted a secular, political, personal one.
Indeed, not only has he stood fast and defended Trump even after he left office, but on Sunday, Graham doubled down on his support for President Trump, for Trump’s goal to “rebuild the Republican Party,” and for the MAGA movement.
During an appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” the South Carolina Republican told host Chris Wallace that Trump “was grateful to his lawyers” and “he appreciated the help that all of us have provided.”Graham added: “He’s ready to move on and rebuild the Republican Party. He’s excited about 2022. I’m going to go down to talk with him next week, play a little golf in Florida. And I said Mr. President, this MAGA [Make America Great Again] movement needs to continue.”
During the same interview, he observed that with Trump’s second impeachment Democrats had opened Pandora’s box, and he illustrated his point by stating that should the GOP take back the House in 2022, he doesn’t “know how Kamala Harris doesn’t get impeached.”
During an appearance on Fox News Sunday, Graham told host Chris Wallace that former President Donald Trump is ready to “move on” and rebuild the Republican Party after his impeachment trial.”I thought the impeachment trial was not only unconstitutional, I condemn what happened on Jan. 6, but the process they used to impeach this president was an affront to rule of law,” Graham opined. “We’ve opened Pandora’s Box to future presidents.””And if you use this model, I don’t know how Kamala Harris doesn’t get impeached if the Republicans take over the House,” he added. “Because she actually bailed out rioters and one of the rioters went back to the streets and broke somebody’s head open. So we’ve opened Pandora’s Box here and I’m sad for the country?”
As if that wasn’t delicious enough, Graham also castigated Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for his strange anti-Trump diatribe following Trump’s acquittal in the Senate, an acquittal that McConnell led.
“I think Senator McConnell’s speech, he got a load off his chest, obviously, but unfortunately he put a load on the backs of Republicans,” Graham said during an appearance on Fox News Sunday. “That speech you will see in 2022 campaigns.”Graham said that Republican candidates running in states that could be key in GOP efforts to win back the Senate will be asked about McConnell’s speech.”I would imagine if you’re a Republican running in Georgia, Arizona, New Hampshire, where we have a chance to take back the Senate, they may be playing Senator McConnell’s speech and asking you about it if you’re a candidate,” Graham said.The South Carolina senator added that incumbent candidates will also be asked about whether they support McConnell.
Graham also let his thoughts about Sen. Richard Burr be known. Burr, who is not seeking reelection in 2022, voted that the impeachment trial was unconstitutional mere days before turning around and voting to convict. Graham was not impressed and seemed to enjoy the irony of a Trump, Lara Trump, winning Burr’s Senate seat.
Senator Lindsey Graham suggested that Donald Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump could win the GOP nomination for Richard Burr’s seat in North Carolina when the senator retires in 2022, after he joined six other Republicans to convict the former president at his impeachment trial.“My friend Richard Burr just made Lara Trump almost the certain nominee for the senate seat in North Carolina to replace him if she runs,” Senator Graham told Fox News on Sunday.Mr Graham, a Republican senator from South Carolina, also said that Mr Trump “is the most vibrant member” and “the most potent force” in the party, and that “the Trump movement is alive and well.”
Watch the whole segment (Warning: the clip contains Chris Wallace being Chris Wallace):
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