'Beyond sad' that 'embarrassing sycophant' Lindsey Graham won’t leave Trump’s side: former senator

05 July 2023

United States Senator Lindsey Graham's (R-South Carolina) loyalty to former President Donald Trump has proven to be fickle since the 2024 MAGA hopeful fueled the Jan. 6 Capitol attack in 2021.

According to The Washington Post, immediately following the insurrection, Graham criticized Trump saying, "Trump and I, we've had a hell of a journey. I hate it to end this way. Oh, my God, I hate it. From my point of view, he’s been a consequential president. But today, the first thing you'll see, all I can say is count me out. Enough is enough."

However, earlier this year, the GOP senator, once again, endorsed Trump for president, Newsweek reports, over two other Republican candidates — both of whom have ties to South Carolina — former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, and U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-South Carolina).

According to Newsweek's report, in April, CNN host Dana Bash asked the senator why he chose to back Trump over Haley and Scott, to which he replied, "The reason I'm with President Trump is I thought he was a good president on the things that mattered the most. We had a secure border. We destroyed the Caliphate. We had energy independence. I think he's the right person to fix the problems that we face."

Despite his continued loyalty, Graham has not received the same support from the former president in return.

During Wednesday's segment of MSNBC's Morning Joe, host Willie Geist spoke with former Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri) about Trump's recent South Carolina rally, where the crowd loudly booed the Republican senator.

After playing a clip from the rally, Geist said, "South Carolina Senator Linsey Graham, in his home state, booed mercilessly over the weekend by a crowd of Republicans with Donald Trump there doing very little to defend him, and instead goading his supporters into booing Senator Graham, even more."

He continued, "Claire, it's almost hard to watch, at this point — a man who just subjects himself again and again and again to this humiliation and to defend Donald Trump, and that's what he gets in return for it. Remember he went out for a brief moment on Jan. 6 and said 'I'm done with Donald Trump,' bumps into some people at the airport in Washington who call him a traitor and he literally flips. He's been on TV in the last few months, literally weeping, for people to give money to Donald Trump's campaign, and this is what he gets in return. You know the man, you worked alongside him, humiliation seems like an understatement."

McCaskill replied, "Yeah, I don't think humiliation is a strong enough word. Everybody needs to keep context here. This is his hometown. He lives 15 miles away. These are supposed to be his people. Now, one thing it does show is, I do believe there are probably a lot of people — and I've met these people — who travel around the country to see Donald Trump. It's a little but like the Grateful Dead for people who are weird. They go on the road to see Donald Trump."

She continued, "In Lindsey's defense, there's probably a good chunk of this audience that's not South Carolina. But the humiliation here is not what the crowd did, it's what Donald Trump did. He treated him like he was a piece of dirt under his shoe. And I've got a real shot to Lindsey: Lindsey, it's not working. You cannot put aside your convictions and your character to support this man. It will not work. He knows this guy is trouble to the United States of America, and another place he's split with Trump is over Ukraine. So, Lindsey, find yourself in this moment. Use this as a teaching moment. You need to be Lindsey, not some embarrassing sycophant that has attached yourself like a leech to the side of this man. I would say to the backside of this man. And it is just beyond sad and depressing, and if it wasn't Lindsey's own fault — it's his fault — so I can't feel sorry for him. But he doesn't appear ready or willing or capable of correcting this problem."

"It's hard to imagine him leaving Donald Trump at this point, but as you say, that was in Pickens, South Carolina, not far from Lindsey Graham's hometown, in his home state. As Claire says, that should be his crowd. And going on TV and literally weeping for Donald Trump is not even enough there so why do you sell your soul? It remains one of the great mysteries of our modern politics."

Watch MSNBC's video below at this link.

The Washington Post's full report is available at this link (subscription required). Newsweek's report is here.

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