Former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough (FL), on his MSNBC show Morning Joe, admonished U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) for voting against the bipartisan border security bill introduced by Rep. James Lankford (R-OK) and also the bipartisan Senate emergency foreign aid bill (which included $60 billion going to Ukraine and $14 billion for Israel) “because Trump told him to.”
Scarborough said: “Lindsey Graham went from wanting to pass the bill to not wanting to pass the bill. Now Lindsey Graham — completely betraying his past, completely betraying the memory of John McCain, completely betraying the people of Ukraine, completely betraying the people of Israel, completely betraying the people of Taiwan — why? why? — all because Donald Trump told him to.”
(Both strong anti-Russia hawks, Graham famously worked closely with the late war hero and Arizona Senator McCain.)
.@JoeNBC: "Lindsey Graham's completely betraying his past…the people of Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan…Why? All because Trump told him to — I can't imagine being such a political coward that you'd betray everything you believed because of a failed reality TV show host." pic.twitter.com/Pbeo2u83Ix
— Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) February 13, 2024
Scarborough added: “I can’t imagine being such a political coward, to betray everything you’ve ever believed because a failed reality TV host told you to.”
Scarborough attested: “It was Lindsey Graham and other Republicans who always said you give this money to help our allies.” Scarborough then mocked Graham’s South Carolinian accent, repeating one of the Senator’s frequent talking points: “‘because it’s better to fight them over there than to fight them over here.'”
In January 2023 as part of a bipartisan CODEL, Graham visited Ukraine with Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI). As seen at the press conference above, Graham said: “We will continue to ask the American people and the Congress to send aid to Ukraine — economic aid and military aid — to accomplish the objective of driving the Russian invader out of the Ukraine.”
In late October 2023, Graham also traveled with a 10-member bipartisan congressional delegation to Israel, expressing unwavering support and leading a press conference in Tel Aviv. Graham said then: “We’re here today to give Israel what they need to do the job of destroying the modern day version of Nazis, Hamas. We’re here today to tell Iran, we’re watching you. If this war grows, it’s coming to your backyard. There won’t be two fronts, there will be three.”
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