On Sunday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) suggested on Fox News that officials should stop inquiries into former President Donald Trump’s misconduct, warning that an indictment against the former chief executive could result in violence by his loyalists.
Graham, himself a Trump loyalist, didn’t acknowledge the attack on the U.S. Capitol building by a mob of Trump’s most ardent followers on January 6, 2021, in his comments.
Instead, Graham suggested that inquiries into Trump were political and claimed that “there is no law” that the Department of Justice (DOJ) or other agencies adhere to.
“It’s all about getting him. There is a double standard when it comes to Trump,” Graham said.
The senator’s comments brush off evidence of Trump’s misdeeds, including his mishandling of hundreds of highly classified documents, which the former president improperly stored at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida even after receiving a subpoena order for the return of the documents earlier this year.
Many of the materials that Trump kept at his Mar-a-Lago estate dealt with sensitive matters relating to national security.
Graham said that Trump’s supporters would react violently if the DOJ charged the former president with a crime.
“If there is a prosecution of Donald Trump for mishandling classified information…there will be riots in the street,” Graham said.
Graham’s warning, which he repeated later on in the program, was shared by Trump on his Truth Social profile.
Many on social media condemned Graham’s comments.
“What exactly motivated Graham to make these comments?” questioned MSNBC producer and blogger Steve Benen. “The rhetoric seemed to straddle the line between warning and threat. ‘Let Trump get away with crimes,’ the senator seemed to suggest, ‘or his followers will turn violent.'”
“Lindsey Graham is now claiming that there will be riots if Trump is prosecuted,” said Aaron Parnos, a Democratic strategist. “Not only will this rhetoric incite violence, but it shows that he believes Trump should be above the law.”
“Threats of violence should NEVER stop the pursuit of justice. NEVER. And you KNOW that Lindsey,” said former GOP congressman Joe Walsh, directing his comments to Graham.
“Is this supposed to dissuade Garland from treating Trump like anyone else who had committed this crime?” asked former FBI agent and national security analyst Asha Rangappa. “@LindseyGrahamSC is an absolute embarrassment to our country.”
Wajahat Ali, a columnist for The Daily Beast, noted that Graham’s comments would have resulted in a much greater backlash if they had come from a person of color.
“Imagine if Muslims and Black people threatened potential violence against the country and law enforcement if they investigated us…imagine the outrage, the headlines, and the discussions,” Ali wrote.
“Trump, [Missouri GOP Sen. Josh] Hawley, Graham, and MAGA do it…eh, both sides,” he went on.
Truthout Is Preparing to Meet Trump’s Agenda With Resistance at Every Turn
Dear Truthout Community,
If you feel rage, despondency, confusion and deep fear today, you are not alone. We’re feeling it too. We are heartsick. Facing down Trump’s fascist agenda, we are desperately worried about the most vulnerable people among us, including our loved ones and everyone in the Truthout community, and our minds are racing a million miles a minute to try to map out all that needs to be done.
We must give ourselves space to grieve and feel our fear, feel our rage, and keep in the forefront of our mind the stark truth that millions of real human lives are on the line. And simultaneously, we’ve got to get to work, take stock of our resources, and prepare to throw ourselves full force into the movement.
Journalism is a linchpin of that movement. Even as we are reeling, we’re summoning up all the energy we can to face down what’s coming, because we know that one of the sharpest weapons against fascism is publishing the truth.
There are many terrifying planks to the Trump agenda, and we plan to devote ourselves to reporting thoroughly on each one and, crucially, covering the movements resisting them. We also recognize that Trump is a dire threat to journalism itself, and that we must take this seriously from the outset.
After the election, the four of us sat down to have some hard but necessary conversations about Truthout under a Trump presidency. How would we defend our publication from an avalanche of far right lawsuits that seek to bankrupt us? How would we keep our reporters safe if they need to cover outbreaks of political violence, or if they are targeted by authorities? How will we urgently produce the practical analysis, tools and movement coverage that you need right now — breaking through our normal routines to meet a terrifying moment in ways that best serve you?
It will be a tough, scary four years to produce social justice-driven journalism. We need to deliver news, strategy, liberatory ideas, tools and movement-sparking solutions with a force that we never have had to before. And at the same time, we desperately need to protect our ability to do so.
We know this is such a painful moment and donations may understandably be the last thing on your mind. But we must ask for your support, which is needed in a new and urgent way.
We promise we will kick into an even higher gear to give you truthful news that cuts against the disinformation and vitriol and hate and violence. We promise to publish analyses that will serve the needs of the movements we all rely on to survive the next four years, and even build for the future. We promise to be responsive, to recognize you as members of our community with a vital stake and voice in this work.
Please dig deep if you can, but a donation of any amount will be a truly meaningful and tangible action in this cataclysmic historical moment.
We’re with you. Let’s do all we can to move forward together.
With love, rage, and solidarity,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy