Graham became one of the most enthusiastic supporters of the US-backed proxy war against Russia in Ukraine in 2022, but pulled a bizarre 180 on his Ukraine stance earlier this month.
The veteran South Carolina senator has offered ringing endorsements of every act of US military aggression abroad since 2003, and was a fervent backer of NATO’s proxy war against Russia in Ukraine before a surprise partial reversal this month, refusing to endorse a $61 billion Senate funding bill in favor of a loan scheme proposed by Donald Trump.
The MAGA crowd at Donald Trump’s victory bash after Saturday’s South Carolina primary gave a not so very warm welcome to Senator Lindsey Graham after Trump invited him to the podium to speak.
“Another man, not a lot of people know him, he doesn’t do too much television, he happens to be a little bit further left than some of the people on this stage, but I always say when I’m in trouble on the left I call up Lindsey Graham and he straightens it out so fast,” Trump said, with his comments met with a mix of applause and boos.
“No, no,” Trump said, gesturing to try to calm the rambunctious crowd. “I love him, he’s a good man! Come up here Lindsey!”
Lindsey Graham booed during Trump’s victory speech in South Carolina… his home state 😂
It proves that our elections are rigged. pic.twitter.com/hbmc0221uv
— TheStormHasArrived (@TheStormRedux) February 25, 2024
“Ok, are you ready?” Graham asked after reaching the podium, where he was met with more boos. “America, the nightmare you’re facing is just about over. Help is on the way. This is the most qualified man to be president of the United States. And let it be said that South Carolina created the biggest political comeback in American history,” the senator said before quickly dashing off from center stage.
Graham and Trump have had a difficult, on-again, off-again political relationship since the New York billionaire announced his run for the presidency in 2015, with the senator initially calling the real estate mogul a “jackass” and Trump returning the favor, calling Graham a “disgrace,” a “nut job” and “one of the dumbest human beings I’ve ever seen.” After entering office in 2017, Trump accused Graham and his fellow neocon, the late Senator John McCain, of ignoring issues like immigration and border security and instead “always looking to start World War III.”
Graham pulled an about face on Trump in 2019, presumably after realizing the then-president’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) wing of the party was gaining significant political clout and easing out traditional, George W. Bush-style neocon Republicans, after which he began to cozy up to Trump and even seemingly adopting elements of his personal style.
Graham became one of the most enthusiastic supporters of the US-backed proxy war against Russia in Ukraine in 2022, vowing to support Kiev for “as long as it takes” and saying US support was resulting in “Russians…dying,” which was “the best money we’ve ever spent.” Russia reacted by adding Graham to its “terrorists and extremists” listing.
The South Carolina senator pulled a bizarre 180 on his Ukraine stance earlier this month, expressing support for the MAGA Republican-dominated House of Representatives’ intransigence on further aid, and saying Congress’s priority was to “deal with our border first,” and saying he backed a Trump proposal to make the “supplemental aid package into a loan instead of a grant.”
Last week, Graham even defended Trump’s comments on NATO, which caused an explosion of exasperated anger by Democrats and neocon Republicans alike, saying he wants “to have a system where if you don’t pay, you get kicked out,” and that Trump was “right to want NATO nations to meet their obligation of 2 percent” of GDP on defense spending.
Political trends may help explain Graham’s about-face. Fresh polling of South Carolina Republicans’ attitudes toward American assistance for Ukraine by AP VoteCast has found that about 6 in 10 GOP voters oppose continuing aid to Kiev, in favor of Trump’s “America First” message, with about half saying the US should take a less active role in world affairs.
In his farewell address in January 2021, Trump said he was “especially proud to be the first president in decades who started no new wars” during his tenure. One of Trump’s twin impeachments revolved around his threat to temporarily put Ukraine military aid on hold while calling for an investigation into potential pay-to-play corruption by the Biden family in the Eastern European country.
