Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) continues to struggle to find his backbone. He has claimed to be concerned about the threat posed by Russian interference in U.S. elections, but this weekend on the CBS program Face The Nation, he completely dismissed the significance of President Donald Trump joking on camera with Russian President Vladimir Putin about that meddling.
A reporter had asked Trump whether he would press Putin to forever stop any and all meddling efforts, and the president turned to the leader right then and there and with a slight grin, “asked” him to not meddle in the election, and that was the end of that. Putin grinned along with the president — and remember, he has led Russia while dozens of journalists have been murdered and was behind the massive, infamous misinformation and hacking campaign that rocked the U.S. in 2016.
Graham sees no issue. Asked if he was concerned, he told host Margaret Brennan:
‘What concerns me is are we going to be ready for their meddling next time. I’ve seen this administration up their game. In 2018, we had a midterm election without a whole lot of interference because we’re upping our game so to speak, so it was clearly a joke.’
Brennan countered:
‘Last time you were on this program, you said that Russia clearly did not learn its lesson. So when you see this “joking” about something so serious regarding an upcoming election, doesn’t that counter everything in terms of a hard line the rest of the national security community is trying to send?’
Graham stood his ground, ignoring the fact that no one had asked Trump to rebuke Putin on camera in the first place; they were speaking in the context of a then-upcoming private meeting. He claimed:
‘I’m not so sure rebuking Putin in front of a bunch of cameras does much good. What hurts him is when you hit him in the pocketbook. His oligarch friends are having a hard time placing their money around the world. We put tremendous sanctions on the Russian economy particularly in the energy area and it’s biting Russia, so actions mean more than anything.’
Watch:
On @realDonaldTrump joking about election meddling in his meeting with Russian Pres. Putin, @LindseyGrahamSC says he’s “not so sure rebuking Putin in front of a bunch of cameras does much good.” pic.twitter.com/FFLiCU7YBh
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) June 30, 2019
During his time with Brennan, he also spoke against Trump palling around with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the recently concluded G20 summit of world leaders, although that doesn’t erase his other consistent stumping for the belligerent president’s agenda.
In bin Salman’s case, Trump went so far that he lied that nobody has “directly pointed a finger” at the leader over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. In reality, the U.S. intelligence community and even the United Nations have concluded that the leader was behind the state-sanctioned murder.
Graham shared of Trump’s ongoing “embrace” of bin Salman:
‘I don’t think it helps. I led the effort to sanction MBS, the crown prince. There’s no doubt in my mind that he ordered the killing of Mr. Khashoggi, that he knew about it, that he’s done things like that to other people, and that he’s been a disruptive force throughout the region. So I’m in a completely different place when it comes to MBS.’
Check it out:
.@LindseyGrahamSC says he’s “in a completely different place” than @realDonaldTrump in regard to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman: “There’s no doubt in my mind that he ordered the killing of Mr. Khashoggi… and that he’s been a disruptive force throughout the region.” pic.twitter.com/yJexxMLVWz
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) June 30, 2019
The thing is — Graham will probably not hesitate to go golfing with Trump again given the opportunity. He could help lead a charge to counter the president’s behavior, but despite his airy rhetoric, he has not shown any indication he’s interested in doing so. Instead, in his capacity as Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, he likes to stick to talking about Hillary Clinton’s emails, years after the federal government concluded their probe into the issue.
Featured Image via screenshot
