'Lindsey Graham is not well': Senator mocked for deflecting to Hillary Clinton in off-the-rails ABC interview

11 June 2023

United States Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) was mocked and corrected on Sunday after he falsely compared the federal indictments filed against former President Donald Trump by Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith to the exoneration of Hillary Clinton by the Federal Bureau of Investigation ahead of the 2016 election.

The drama began during a contentious interview on ABC News' This Week.

"We are joined now by Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who's endorsed Donald Trump for President in 2024. Senator Graham, thank you for joining us this morning. Donald Trump has said repeatedly, repeatedly that he did nothing wrong. Do you believe that?" host George Stephanopoulos asked.

"Well, here's what I believe. We live in an America where if you're the Democratic candidate for president, Hillary Clinton, secretary of state, you can set up a private server in your basement to conduct government business and when an investigation is head about your activity..." Graham began.

"Senator..." Stephanopoulos interjected.

"No, let me finish," Graham snapped.

"But you didn't answer the question," said Stephanopoulos.

Graham became incensed over the previous segment.

"This panel you had was ridiculous. Well, yeah, I, I'm trying to answer the question from a Republican point of view that may not be acceptable on this show. Yes. I don't like what President Trump did in certain aspects. I don't like that Joe Biden had classified information on the garage. I don't like that Mike Pence carelessly took classified information. I don't like any of that, but what I don't like is a system in America where the secretary of state who's a Democratic candidate for president, has people take a hammer to social media devices and break them apart, apply beach, uh, bleach bit to a hard drive to erase emails, allow classified information to get on a felons computer, Anthony Wiener, you haven't even mentioned that. Most Republicans believe we live in a country where Hillary Clinton did very similar things and nothing happened to her," Graham complained.

"President Trump will have his day in court, but espionage charges are absolutely ridiculous. Whether you like Trump or not, he did not commit espionage. He did not disseminate, leak, or provide information to a foreign power or to news organization to damage this country. He is not a spy. He's overcharged. Did he do things wrong? Yes, he may have. He will be tried about that. But Hillary Clinton wasn't. Your old boss committed perjury in a civil lawsuit, lost his law license obstructed justice in a dozen ways, and he didn't get prosecuted," Graham exclaimed.

"I know, well, he was impeached, but he wasn't prosecuted," Stephanopoulos responded.

Graham, meanwhile, posted the same spurious argument on Twitter.

"President Trump will have his day in court but espionage charges are absolutely ridiculous," Graham tweeted. "Whether you like Trump or not, he did not commit espionage. He did not disseminate, leak or provide information to a foreign power or news organizations to damage this country. He is not a spy. He is overcharged. Did he do things wrong? Yes, he may have. He will be tried about that. But Hillary Clinton wasn't."

Graham added that "most Republicans believe we live in a country where Hillary Clinton did very similar things and nothing happened to her."

The feedback was swift.

Congressman Eric Sorensen (D-Illinois): "Lindsey Graham is not well."

CNN's Daniel Dale pointed out that "Trump is not charged with 'espionage.' The Espionage Act contains a wide range of charges, from spying to doing what Trump is accused of - willfully retaining national defense information. The willful retention offense (793e) does not require you to be a spy or disseminate to anyone."

Dale also noted the "'willfully retains' and 'fails to deliver it' statute language that the indictment cites."

Veteran journalist John Harwood opined that "it is the responsibility of honorable Republican leaders to explain that this belief is wrong. because, as Lindsey Graham knows very well, it is wrong."

Civil rights attorney Andrew C. Laufer wondered, "How do you know that, Senator? What credible evidence demonstrates that?" he then wrote that "Clinton did not, in fact, do the same thing as Trump. You know this, yet continue to spread nonsense."

Watch the clip below or at this link.

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