Following a discussion of Donald Trump’s decision to retweet (and thereby endorse) several anti-Muslim videos propagated by a right-wing British extremist group, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) condemned the press for attacking the president. “What concerns me about the American press is this endless, endless attempt to label the guy some kind of kook [who is] not fit to be president,” he told CNN. “He did win, by the way!” Yet as several journalists and media commentators noted on Twitter, making these very condemnations of Trump throughout the 2016 Republican Primaries was Graham’s specialty.
Lindsey Graham on CNN:“U know what concerns me abt the American press is this endless, endless attempt to label the guy as some kind of KOOK NOT FIT TO BE PRESIDENT"
Graham labeling Trump on Fox on 2/17/16: “I think he’s a KOOK. I think he’s crazy ..He’s NOT FIT TO BE PRESIDENT”
— Chris Donovan (@chrisdonovan) November 30, 2017
Lindsey Graham is on CNN right now knocking reporters for supposedly trying to paint Trump as a crazy person, & how it’s getting “old.” Graham's whole thing during the election was saying Trump was “xenophobic” & that his nomination meant the GOP had gone “batshit crazy.”
— Asawin Suebsaeng (@swin24) November 30, 2017
Per Donovan’s tweet in particular, Graham gave an interview to America’s Newsroom on the Fox News Channel on February 17, 2016. “I think he’s a kook. I think he’s crazy. I think he’s unfit for office,” the presidential hopeful said at the time of Trump, who was already a frontrunner. “I’m a Republican. and he’s not. He’s not a conservative Republican, he’s an opportunist. He’s not fit to be president of the United States.” The comments resulted in one of the pair’s first public fights, which subsequently included Graham saying of Trump, “At the end of the day, he would be the most flawed nominee in the history of the Republican Party.”
Graham even repeated these sentiments on Trump’s favorite medium, Twitter. The tweets in question are still live as of this writing.
Donald Trump is not a conservative Republican. He's an opportunist. He's not fit to be President of the United States.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) February 17, 2016
If Donald Trump is the GOP nominee for President, we will get slaughtered in November 2016. And frankly, we will deserve it.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) February 17, 2016
Previously, during the 2016 campaign’s early days in 2015, Graham told CNN Trump was a “race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot.” Like the above tweets, that video is also still available for all to see on the network’s YouTube page.