All posts tagged "lindsey graham"

'I urge you to reconsider': Lindsey Graham drops grave threat over 'beyond offensive' move

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-NC) issued a grave warning Thursday to Norway over its decision to cut ties with the American company Caterpillar, threatening the Scandinavian country with tariffs and urging its leaders to “reconsider” its “shortsighted decision.”

Graham’s threats come after the Wall Street Journal reported that Norway’s sovereign-wealth fund is ditching its shares of Caterpillar – among the world’s largest manufacturers of construction equipment – over Israel's use of the company’s equipment in systemically leveling homes in Gaza.

“To those who run Norway’s sovereign wealth fund: if you cannot do business with Caterpillar because Israel uses their products, maybe it’s time you’re made aware that doing business or visiting America is a privilege, not a right,” Graham wrote in a social media post on X Thursday.

“Maybe it’s time to put tariffs on countries who refuse to do business with great American companies.”

Just between March and July, Israel has demolished thousands of homes across Gaza, leveling entire towns and communities, according to satellite images reviewed by the British Broadcasting Network. Israel has defended the leveling of entire blocks as a “military necessity,” arguing that Hamas places “military assets” in civilian centers.

The Gazan city of Khan Yunis reduced to rubble amid Israel's ongoing siege on the Gaza Strip, Sept. 16, 2024.Alexander Willis / Raw Story

The destruction of civilian property, unless deemed a military necessity, is a war crime under international law, with the United Nations Human Rights Office last week urging countries that have signed onto the Geneva Conventions – which includes the United States – to follow their legal obligations by exerting “maximum pressure on Israel to immediately halt” its offensive.

According to the Wall Street Journal’s reporting, bulldozers constructed and sold by Caterpillar are frequently used in the demolition of Gaza homes. Norway has in turn decided to dump its 1.2% stake in the company, which was valued at around $2.4 billion in late 2024.

In his threat to Norway, Graham went on to suggest individuals involved in the decision to dump Caterpillar stock could face additional consequences from the United States as well.

“Or maybe we shouldn’t give visas to individuals who run organizations that attempt to punish American companies for geopolitical differences,” Graham wrote. “I would urge you to reconsider your shortsighted decision.”

Graham’s threats follow a previous outburst over Norway’s decision on Wednesday, where he called the move “beyond offensive,” and vowed that the country’s “BS decision will not go unanswered.”

To those who run Norway’s sovereign wealth fund: if you cannot do business with Caterpillar because Israel uses their products, maybe it’s time you’re made aware that doing business or visiting America is a privilege, not a right.

Maybe it’s time to put tariffs on countries who… https://t.co/KAcOBunzbC
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) August 28, 2025

This Trump surrender was the worst yet

Lindsay Graham says he believes Donald Trump is ready to “crush” the Russian economy if that country’s leader, Vladimir Putin, doesn’t agree to peace talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

“Trump believes that if Putin doesn’t do his part, that he’s going to have to crush his economy,” the US senator told reporters in South Carolina last week. “Because you’ve got to mean what you say.”

This is an amazing thing to say.

Just three days prior, Trump met with Putin in Alaska for three hours. Beforehand, he said there would be “severe consequences” if Putin didn’t agree to a ceasefire in the war in Ukraine. Trump said he “solved six wars in six months,” implying that this one would be no different.

Then he choked.

His demands melted into the air. He was all smiles, all handshakes, all deference verging on reverence. The leader of the world’s most powerful military emerged from his meeting with a cut-rate tyrant as if he’d been dogwalked. It was so bad even a Fox reporter had to admit it looked like “Putin came in and steamrolled, got right into what he wanted to say and got his photo next to the president and then left.”

The Washington Post’s George Will, who is not a liberal, also saw the plain truth.

“The former KGB agent currently indicted for war crimes felt no need to negotiate with the man-child,” Will said (my stress). “The president’s thunderous demands — a 50-day deadline, a 10-day deadline, 'severe consequences,' a ceasefire before negotiations — all were just noise."

So yes. Senator Graham is right. You’ve got to mean what you say. Trump doesn’t. Indeed, he never does. That’s why he choked.

Because of that, he and other Trump allies have spent their time in the days after that disastrous “summit” trying to rewrite history in order to protect the president from the consequences of his own weakness.

Graham now says Trump is ready to “crush” the Russian economy, as if Trump really were the big strong man he portrays himself to be, rather than the milksop who actually called Putin “the boss” and later phoned him during a meeting with European leaders, as if getting permission.

But Graham isn’t alone.

“The president has this uncanny ability to bend people to his sensible way of thinking,” US envoy Steve Witkoff told Sean Hannity last night.

“He does it each and every time,” he said. “I've never seen anything quite like it and I've been around some master dealmakers. He is the legend as far as I'm concerned. His policy prescriptions are so pragmatic and so sensible and in a distorted world, he’s recalibrating it all. It’s simply remarkable. And every single leader that I have met in my travels, they say the same things I do. Every single one of them.”

Witkoff is the envoy who Anne Applebaum said was “an amateur out of his depth” who “misunderstood his last meeting with Putin in Moscow if he thought that the Alaska summit was going to be successful.”

On Fox, noted international relations expert Montana Congressman Ryan Zinke said: “President Trump has done an unbelievable job against long odds,” before speculating, oddly, that “it'll end up probably with a land bridge between the Crimean peninsula and Russia.”

He also said that Trump “hasn’t changed where his mission focus is. It’s peace.”

Peace through surrender.

Isn’t that the most striking thing? The US is unrivaled in its military and diplomatic might. We could end this war, now. As Applebaum said, “arm Ukraine, expand sanctions, stop the lethal drone swarms, break the Russian economy, and win the war. Then there will be peace.”

But Trump chooses weakness.

He chooses to look strong, not be strong.

And no matter what his Republican allies in the Congress do to cover up that fact, they themselves cannot make him. They, too, are weak.

Graham said the clock is ticking and that Trump must “impose steep tariffs on countries that are fueling Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by buying its oil, gas, uranium, and other exports,” according to the AP, and such threats might push Putin to the negotiating table.

“If we don’t have this thing moving in the right direction by the time we get back, then I think that plan B needs to kick in,” Graham told the AP.

Plan B would be Congress acting without Trump.

Which means there is no plan B.

The Republicans are weak, because they surrendered their power, first to the rightwing media apparatus, then to Trump, who surrendered his power to Putin, who dominates the rightwing media apparatus.

And has for a decade.

We can speculate about the dirt Putin has on Trump, but fact is, he could mortally wound the president by turning the world’s biggest firehose of disinformation away from his “woke” enemies and toward him. Trump’s base is already confused by his refusal to release “the Epstein files.” Russian propaganda could be deployed to savagely widen the already broad gap between him and the MAGA faithful.

More likely, though, the Kremlin could sow doubt about Trump’s alleged strength. He’s all talk, no walk. We saw it. Russian state media brags about it. Echoes are now bouncing around mainstream media.

While Graham was shielding Trump from his weakness, the UK’s biggest conservative paper ran this hed and dek: “European rearmament is pushing Trump into irrelevance on Ukraine. This vain, vacillating, gullible US president no longer commands the West.”

The importance of the rightwing media apparatus to the Republicans is evident in their efforts at damage control. Trump showed his whole ass. Now it’s up to allies to persuade his supporters that they did not see what they saw or if they did, it was the most amazing thing ever.

They have a lot of work to do. The Economist reported that Americans have a -14 approval rating of his handling of foreign policy. The public knows next to nothing about global affairs, but we know what fear looks like. After meeting Putin, Trump looked scared. And I think he looked scared, because Putin reminded him of something important.

He who can destroy a thing controls it.

So Trump chooses weakness.

And the rest of his party follows.

'He's got to go': Dem challenger reveals plan to take 'corrupt' Lindsey Graham's seat

A pediatrician who is running to unseat one of South Carolina's GOP senators had strong words for the lawmaker on Sunday.

Dr. Annie Andrews is running against Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) in the 2026 midtermelections. She joined legal analyst Glenn Kirschner on his podcast, "Justice Matters," to discuss her candidacy.

"[Graham], to me, epitomizes the problems with the modern Republican Party," Andrews told Kirschner. "He's a career, corrupt politician who has been in the U.S. Senate for 22 years, which is literally half of my life."

Graham has become a MAGA outsider during President Donald Trump's second administration. According to a report by Axios, MAGA is furious at him for taking a recent trip to Ukraine.

Graham also appears to be taking a "business as usual" approach with Trump, which means sticking by his hawkish attitudes despite growing pressure to assimilate with the MAGA world, according to one right-wing media figure Axios spoke with.

Even though Graham enjoys a close personal relationship with Trump, he faces a cadre of opponents in his next election. For instance, state Republican stalwarts like Lt. Gov. André Bauer on the right and a host of Democrats on the left.

Andrews is one of five Democrats currently vying for Graham's seat, The South Carolina Daily Gazette reported.

This isn't the first time Andrews has run for office. She also unsuccessfully challenged Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) for her seat in 2022.

"I didn't win, but I didn't go away. I realized Lindsey Graham has got to go," Andrews said.

Watch the entire episode below or click here.

'Spoke Trump fluently': Mike Pence attempts to decode president's new comments

Former Vice President Mike Pence attempted to decode Donald Trump's comments on the Russia sanctions bill crafted by the Senate following the president's falling out with Vladimir Putin over Ukraine.

CNN's Kate Bolduan introduced the topic by saying that Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) won't act on the bill crafted by Sen. Lindsey Graham and other Senate hawks "unless Trump signs off," adding "Trump is not a 'yes' yet."

"My hope is the president will make it clear that he wants that bill on his desk," Pence began as Bolduan interjected, "He keeps saying, 'yes, maybe, no, I don't need it yet.' He suggested to advisers that it won't deter —"

"Kate, I spoke Trump fluently for four years," Pence offered, leading Bolduan to remark, "So, decipher, please!"

"So, when I saw him the other day and he said he's 'strongly looking at it,' I know what that means," Pence said. "My hope is that the president will understand the value of the Senate acting, and they can put that on his desk, and it has broad waiver authority in it."

According to Politico, the White House has pushed back on the bill, claiming it didn't give the president "sole authority" on Russia and would allow Congress to "micromanage" the president on foreign policy.

A senior White House official told Politico, "The bill needs a waiver authority that is complete.”

Pence continued, "I literally think that the very presence of those new sanctions, especially the secondary sanctions that are included, that are that essentially are going to go against countries that are subsidizing that war —"

"Then, why pump the brakes?" Baldoun challenged Pence.

"Well, I think and hope the president will see the value of Vladimir Putin seeing those sanctions on his desk available for a signature."

Watch the clip below via CNN or click here.

White House rips into Lindsey Graham for pushing bill that 'micromanages' Trump

The White House is pushing back on provisions of a Russia sanctions bill masterminded by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), claiming it would allow Congress to "micromanage" the president on foreign policy.

Graham and GOP "hawks" have pushed the bill for months, according to Politico, but Trump seems to have just now had an epiphany about Russian President Vladimir Putin's duplicitous behavior when it comes to Ukraine.

On Tuesday, Trump expressed his frustration with the Russian president, saying, "We get a lot of bull---- thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth. He's very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless." Trump also let on that he would be willing to consider sanctions against Russia to get Putin back to the negotiating table regarding the war.

"The current draft of the bill allows the president to waive a 500 percent tariff on countries that buy Russian oil and uranium for up to 180 days, and Graham said Tuesday he has agreed to revise the bill to allow for a second waiver, subject to congressional oversight," according to the report.

That's not good enough for the White House, which is working to preserve Trump's "sole authority to oversee U.S. foreign policy."

“The current version would subject the president’s foreign policy decisions to micromanagement by Congress through a joint resolution of disapproval process. … That’s a nonstarter for us,” a senior White House official told Politico. “The administration is not going to be micromanaged by the Congress on the president’s foreign policy. The bill needs a waiver authority that is complete.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said Wednesday that the measure could make it to the Senate floor later this month, but only if Trump is "fully onboard."

That may be tricky since Trump declared this week, "that any additional Russia sanctions would be 'at my option.'"

Read the Politico article here.

'Never seen that happen': GOP clashes over senator's rogue move on Trump bill

Senate Republicans are bashing Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) for going rogue as they hash out changes to the House version of President Donald Trump's megabill, Politico reported.

Paul serves as chair of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which should give him "jurisdiction" over the section of the bill dealing with border security, according to Politico's Hailey Fuchs. But Paul's defiance over increased spending has led committee members to shut him out of negotiations.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who has a long history of opposing Paul's more conservative approach to spending, is seeking to override Paul’s jurisdiction in the budget negotiations.

"Paul has made clear repeatedly he isn’t planning to vote for the party-line tax and spending bill...giving leadership few reasons to try and play nice," Fuchs wrote, adding that "the decision by senior Senate Republicans to undermine a committee chair in such a way marks a dramatic departure from standard Senate procedure."

This week, Paul drafted his own spending proposal, which is drastically different to Graham's. Senators viewed the move as "another break with precedent," Fuchs wrote.

She added that "few of Paul’s own members on the Homeland Security panel, if any, appeared supportive of the chair’s approach or willing to back him up against leadership’s attempts to undermine him. Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, said it was concerning that Paul would draft his own proposal 'without any consultation of the committee.'"

Hawley said he had “never seen that happen before," Fuchs wrote.

Paul's proposal "would allocate just $6.5 billion for immigration enforcement efforts at the border. His proposal also would free up $2.5 billion for Customs and Border Protection facilities and checkpoints instead of the House’s $5 billion offering," Politico reported.

Read the Politico article here.

Ex-GOP lawmaker 'seriously considering' run as a Democrat against Lindsey Graham

Joe Walsh, a former far-right Tea Party Rep. from Illinois who recently switched parties, says he's "seriously considering" a run for Lindsey Graham's (R-SC) Senate seat.

Walsh told Politico he registered as a Democrat last week and still considers himself a "conservative."

"I am seriously considering moving to South Carolina and challenging Lindsey Graham next year, because he’s a piece of s---,” Walsh told the outlet. “He’s everything that is wrong about our politics, and he’s the worst, most pathetic Trump enabler.”

Back in 2019, Walsh told CNN, “There are so many Republicans in the House and the Senate who have sold their soul to [Donald Trump]. Lindsey is just one of them."

Walsh also told Politico that "Democrats have to take a new, asymmetrical approach to their Republican opponents and have to 'f------ wake up and begin to do different things.'”

Walsh recently spoke out against Donald Trump's actions in Los Angeles, calling the federalization of the National Guard and calling up of U.S. Marines, a "dishonest farce designed to justify authoritarianism."

"Let’s get something straight from the top: there is no national emergency in Los Angeles. The crisis is invented. Manufactured. Just like the 'trade crisis.' And it’s being used—once again—by Donald Trump to divide, to incite, and to expand his power," Walsh said.

Politico reported that Graham’s last race against Jaime Harrison (D), "was among the most expensive of its cycle, totaling nearly $200 million. Harrison lost to Graham by 10 percentage points." The outlet noted that Graham's seat has been held by Republicans for more than 50 years.

If Walsh decides to run as a Democrat, he would have to primary at least one other Democratic candidate: South Carolina pediatrician Dr. Annie Andrews, who has denounced Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s anti-vaccine rhetoric.

Read the Politico article here.

'Disgrace': Lindsey Graham slammed as he aims drowning threat at Greta Thunberg

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is coming under fire for what some called a "threat" he made aimed at Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg.

Over the weekend, Thunberg joined other activists on a ship carrying aid from Sicily to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The supplies included baby formula, flour, rice, and diapers, and was described by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition as "limited amounts, though symbolic".

Graham, a staunch supporter of Donald Trump and Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu, retweeted a Times of Israel story showing Thunberg onboard the ship with the headline, "Greta Thunberg sets sail with Gaza flotilla that aims to break Israeli naval blockade."

"Hope Greta and her friends can swim!" he wrote.

Social media users immediately pounced on Graham's comment as a "threat."

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"Why is a 69-year-old U.S. senator joking about the drowning of a 22-year-old Swedish activist? Is this where American politics is now?" wrote journalist Brian McDonald.

"Why would a US senator be threatening a young climate activist?" wrote the account of @xIsraelExposedx to their 66,000 followers.

The account @Darkiora, followed by Republican Rep. Thomas Massie wrote, "Just casually threatening the life of a young girl that wants to feed a starving besieged population where half are children. How do Americans accept this behavior."

"Are you aware that you are a sitting US Senator??" wrote @DeTocqueville14.

"You are a disgrace to the dignity of the U.S. Senate and your legacy will reflect how you desperately misused your power in return for money," wrote @moorehn.

Free Speech attorney Jenin Younis wrote, "If I were a sitting congressman working on behalf of a foreign country and against Americans, I’d try not to make it so obvious."

Writer Patti Mohr posted, "That's a disgusting comment, Senator Graham. You might find starving millions of people funny but the rest of us don't. Real Americans are for human dignity, rights, and freedom. You've been in Washington way too long."

'That man is a snake': Lindsey Graham faces MAGA wrath after Trump J6 'mistake' claim

MAGA World exploded on Sunday when Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told NBC's Meet The Press that it was a "mistake" for President Donald Trump to given blanket pardons to the Capitol insurrectionists.

Host Kristen Welker said, "Even his own vice president said, 'If you committed violence on that day, obviously, you shouldn't be pardoned.' Do you believe that President Trump was wrong to issue these blanket pardons to the January 6th defendants?"

Graham answered, "Number one, he had the legal authority to do it, but I fear you will get more violence. Pardoning the people who went into the Capitol and beat up a police officer violently, I think, was a mistake, because it seems to suggest that's an OK thing to do."

X user @Cfojs, who described themselves as a "MAGA Constitutional Conservative," posted, "Another RINO that needs to go. Time for the next generation to step in. We need to vote them in."

Another user called @chicagopatty1, described as a "First generation American," wrote, "The mistake is that Lindsey Graham is still in office."

@facedschiff, a "self employed, libertarian, husband, father, binary, Christ Follower," wrote, "That man is a snake. Wake up people of SC."

User @JohnStrandUSA, whose X bio called him a "J6 political prisoner" and an "insurrectionist," posted, "Lindsay Graham is pretending he doesn’t know that most allegations of violence by protesters were false or dishonest & manipulated, and predicated on government entrapment and violent (even DEADLY) police brutality and misconduct. He does know—and he’s a scoundrel. VOTE HIM OUT."

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"Who cares what Lindsey Graham likes. Most of us don’t like him," posted "MAGA" Trump supporter @JackiBr16652825.

Trump has frequently referred to the insurrectionists as "political prisoners" and "hostages," and vowed repeatedly during his campaign to set them free. It remained unclear exactly who Trump would pardon, but on day one of his administration, he announced he was blanket pardoning roughly 1,500 criminal defendants, including those who violently assaulted police officers.

FactCheck.org reported, "In its latest update, on the four-year anniversary of the Jan. 6 riots, the Department of Justice reported that approximately 1,583 people had been charged criminally in federal court.

"Most of them pleaded guilty to crimes related to Jan. 6., including 327 who pleaded guilty to felonies and 682 who pleaded guilty to misdemeanors, the Justice Department report said. Among those who pleaded guilty to felonies, 172 pleaded guilty to assaulting law enforcement, 69 pleaded guilty to assaulting law enforcement with a dangerous or deadly weapon, and four pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy — conspiring to use force against the United States."

Watch the Meet The Press clip below via NBC or at the link.