Like most Republicans, Lindsey Graham was once a Donald Trump skeptic, warning of the damage he may do to his party. And like most Republicans, he had one of his unpredictable changes of heart. The South Carolina senator has had the outgoing president’s back for the entirety of his administration, including the last two months, helping him push election fraud lies, even demanding Georgia’s secretary of state illegally throw out votes. So when Graham called on Democrats in the Senate to dismiss Trump’s House impeachment, so the nation can heal, his plea was not met kindly.
My letter to Democratic Leader Schumer.
The Senate should vote to dismiss the article of impeachment once it is received in the Senate. We will be delaying indefinitely, if not forever, the healing of this great Nation if we do otherwise. pic.twitter.com/fjVcf7iVPf
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) January 17, 2021
Trump was impeached last week, but the Senate is not scheduled to reconvene until after he’s out of office, when the Majority Leader baton will be passed from Mitch McConnell to Chuck Schumer. Graham made public a letter he sent Schumer, in which he argued that they should not follow the House’s lead.
“But now, in your first act as majority leader, rather than begin the national healing that the country so desperately yearns for, you seek vengeance and political retaliation instead,” Graham continued in his letter to Schumer. “While the vice president and Senate Republicans rejected unconstitutional actions, you seek to force upon the Senate, what would itself be but one more unconstitutional action in this disgraceful saga— the impeachment trial of a former president.”
Graham added on Twitter, “We will be delaying indefinitely, if not forever, the healing of this great Nation if we do otherwise.”
But given Graham’s antics over the last couple months, a lot of people called bull.
A call for healing from a Senator who pushed election lies, claimed Democrats were cheating, and asked @GaSecofState “whether Raffensperger had the power to toss all mail ballots in counties found to have higher rates of nonmatching signatures.” https://t.co/Xf9HhzsN4m
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) January 17, 2021
“A call for healing from a Senator who pushed election lies, claimed Democrats were cheating, and asked @GaSecofState ‘whether Raffensperger had the power to toss all mail ballots in counties found to have higher rates of nonmatching signatures,’” tweeted Jake Tapper.
Others weren’t convinced either.
Lindsey Graham is actually trying to "Benghazi" Nancy Pelosi by blaming the security at the Capitol on her.
1. She was a goddamn TARGET of the insurrectionists.
2. The rioters were there because trump TOLD THEM TO GO.
3. Lindsey Graham is a jackass.
— BrooklynDad_Defiant!☮️ (@mmpadellan) January 17, 2021
Lindsey Graham sent a letter saying that the Senate should vote to dismiss the article of Impeachment. I vote that the Senate expell Lady G's seditious ass from the Senate for interfering in GA election, spreading lies, conspiracy theories, and propaganda!
— Amy Lynn🐇💀 (@AmyLynnStL) January 17, 2021
Lindsey: Mr. President, you urged an attack on the Capitol. People's lives were —
Donald: Lindsey.
Lindsey: I can't in good —
Donald: LINDSEY.
Lindsey: (beat) Yes, Mr. President?
Donald: Mayonnaise video.
Lindsey: Mr. President I beg you —
Donald: MAYONNAISE VIDEO.
Lindsey: https://t.co/2TFUhgThWO— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) January 17, 2021
This was aided and abetted by the President and his accomplices in the #SeditionCaucus so no…we aren't going to play the silly little "let's all move on" games of @RandPaul @LindseyGrahamSC @HawleyMO or their co-conspirators in the House. Crimes must be punished. https://t.co/Y74jECKZaM
— Fred Wellman (@FPWellman) January 17, 2021
https://twitter.com/stuartpstevens/status/1350897706739277825
You flip flop more than a spineless fish gasping for water. Now, you want unity and peace @LindseyGrahamSC …
Are you this👇🏽Lindsey?? pic.twitter.com/DslcYv2Esj
— We Vote, We Win! 🧢 (@VaTechPhiDelt) January 17, 2021
5 simple words from Trump and his enablers that would be the first necessary step towards healing:
“The election was not stolen”
Anyone brave enough to tell the truth? Lindsey? Josh? Ted?
“An evil enemy will burn his own nation to the ground to rule over the ashes”
— Lindy Li (@lindyli) January 17, 2021
Some speculated on Graham’s motives.
Whatever they have on Lindsey Graham must be damning beyond belief.
— Charlotte Clymer 🇺🇦 (@cmclymer) January 17, 2021
Perhaps someone who isn’t Lindsey Graham should be the one who calls for unity after one of American history’s most tumultuous presidencies. Or maybe someone who played a key role in creating the division of the last four years shouldn’t be the one demanding forgiveness.
(Via Politico)