Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) spoke directly to President Trump during an appearance on “Fox and Friends” Monday morning, instructing the President to avoid personal attacks when he could hit the Democrats he’s been raging against for their policies.
But a moment later, Graham ignored his own advice.
“Mr. President, you’re gonna win, just knock it down a notch,” he said, referencing Trump’s racist Twitter tear against Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) in which he said all four should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.”
“We all know AOC and this crowd are a bunch of communists, they hate Israel, they hate our own country. They’re calling guards along our border, border patrol agents concentration camp guards,” Graham continued. “They accuse people who support Israel of doing it for the ‘benjamins.’ They’re anti-semitic. They’re anti-America. Don’t get down — aim higher. We don’t need to know anything about them personally. Talk about their policies.”
Republicans have been quiet or have offered watered-down rebukes of President Trump for the tweets, widely considered racist and derogatory.
Graham tells Trump to "aim higher" when it comes to Dem attacks pic.twitter.com/Sk5knpDkEc
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) July 15, 2019
Minutes later, Trump tweeted out a transcribed thread of Graham’s comments, appearing to endorse his assessment of the congresswomen, whom he called “anti-America.”
….they are Anti-Semitic, they are Anti-America, we don’t need to know anything about them personally, talk about their policies. I think they are American citizens who are duly elected that are running on an agenda that is disgusting, that the American people will reject……
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 15, 2019
…..to impeach President Trump on DAY ONE. Make them the face of the future of the Democrat Party, you will destroy the Democrat Party. Their policies will destroy our Country!” @LindseyGrahamSC Need I say more?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 15, 2019
Ocasio-Cortez called on Republican leadership to denounce Trump’s comments and later argued Graham was pushing for a return to the 1950s era of McCarthyism.
Until Republican officials denounce yesterday’s explicitly racist statements (which should be easy!), we sadly have no choice but to assume they condone it.
It is extremely disturbing that the *entire* GOP caucus is silent. Is this their agenda? https://t.co/NXIUiPAPls
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 15, 2019
I see @LindseyGrahamSC’s biggest issue w/ Trump’s racism is that it doesn’t go far enough – Graham wants to bring back 1950s McCarthyism, too.
GOP is doing this because they have no plan for our future.
We’re the ones fighting for healthcare, edu, good jobs, & they got nothing. https://t.co/pfAEATWbJl
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 15, 2019
