Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) was lavished with praise by Sen. Joe Kennedy (R-LA) in his latest book How to Test Negative for Stupid: And Why Washington Never Will, while at the same time, also described the senator from South Carolina as a hard-drinking wild card that at any moment could “get drunk and vomit in the fish tank.”
Published last October, Kennedy’s book has gone on to become a New York Times best seller, selling nearly 500,000 copies, and perhaps in part due to the wealth of insider anecdotes about both his Republican and Democratic colleagues.
One of those anecdotes was especially brutal towards Graham, the New York Times reported Tuesday after reviewing a copy of the book.
“If you want to stump Lindsey, just ask him to name a country he wouldn’t bomb,” Kennedy wrote, referring to Graham’s hawkish reputation, having advocated for U.S. military action against Iran, Iraq, Libya, Mexico, North Korea, Syria and Venezuela, among other nations.
Outside of Graham’s frequent calls for military action, Kennedy also spoke to the senator’s unpredictability, and apparent admiration for alcohol.
“Invite him to dinner, and you don’t know if he’ll sit down for an intelligent conversation or get drunk and vomit in the fish tank,” Kennedy wrote. “But that’s why I like him.”
The son of a bar owner, Graham was featured as the subject of a profile by New York Magazine in 2015, where the outlet wrote that Graham “likes a drink so much he thinks drinking more might just solve the problems in Washington.”
Graham also hinted at his drinking tendencies during his 2016 presidential bid, pledging to encourage more drinking as one of his first acts as president.
“That’s the first thing I’m gonna do as president, we’re gonna drink more!” Graham said on the debate stage. “I will put the country at a party!”
And last December, attendees at a press conference in Charleston, South Carolina said Graham appeared intoxicated while taking questions, with one witness describing his behavior as "disheveled and disoriented,” the South Carolina Courier reported.