Sen. Graham Takes Jab at Glenn Beck: 'Only in America Can You Make That Much Money Crying.'

Posted by Amanda Terkel, Think Progress at 12:34 PM on October 1, 2009.

Today at the Washington Ideas Forum sponsored by the Atlantic, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) sharply criticized “talk radio, MoveOn.org, the 24-hour news cycle” for the polarization in politics. He then specifically mentioned Fox News hosts Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Beck:

Can you imagine writing the Constitution — you know, O’Reilly says Ben Franklin’s giving in on something. Can you imagine having to do that in this environment? [Graham said]

Without missing a beat, The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg next asked for Graham’s thoughts on Glenn Beck.

“Only in America can you make that much money crying,” Graham said.

Graham also claimed that Beck is “not aligned with any party as far as I can tell. He’s aligned with cynicism. And there’s always been a market for cynicism.” Watch it:

In recent weeks, there has been a conservative backlash against Beck. Right-wing radio host Mark Levin has called him “pathetic,” former Bush adviser Peter Wehner has said he’s “harmful to the conservative movement,” Rush Limbaugh characterized his role promoting the 9/12 march as “cheap and disingenuous,” and conservative pundit David Frum has warned conservatives against succumbing to Beck’s “mob rule.”

Tagged as: republicans, gop, glenn beck, graham

Amanda Terkel is Deputy Research Director at the Center for American Progress and serves as Deputy Editor for The Progress Report and ThinkProgress.org at the Center for American Progress.