Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has gone from enemy to friend to skeptic to friend again of Donald Trump. With Trump back in the White House, Graham appears to be solidly back on Trump’s team.
But in a TV interview this weekend, Graham appeared to do a less-than-stellar job defending Trump on television.
On Sunday’s NBC’s Meet the Press, Graham was asked about Trump firing 17 inspectors general in his first week as president. Several of these inspectors general were appointed by Trump during his first presidency. The law requires 30 days’ notice before inspectors general are fired, but Trump disregarded that law.
WELKER: Do you think Trump violated the law?
LINDSEY GRAHAM: Well, technically, yeah pic.twitter.com/NqN8qDspUQ
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 26, 2025
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“The law says he’s supposed to give them 30 days’ notice. He didn’t do that. Do you think he violated the law?,” Welker asked Graham.
“Well, technically yeah, but he has the authority to do it. I’m not losing a whole lot of sleep that he wants to change the personnel out. I just want to make sure that he gets off to a good start, I think he has. I’m very supportive of what he wants to do with America.”
In the same interview, Graham broke with Trump on one action in the early going of his second administration: The pardoning of essentially every defendant accused or convicted of January 6-related crimes.
“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,” Graham said, while at the same time criticizing former President Biden’s pardons of his family members.
Sen. Schiff: Biden ‘was wrong’ to give family members pardons https://t.co/NXMCXjpkUG
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) January 26, 2025
“As to pardoning violent people who beat up cops, I think that’s a mistake,” Graham added.
Also on Meet the Press, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA), agreed that the inspector general firings were improper.
“To write off this clear violation of the law by saying, ‘Well, technically he broke the law.’ Yeah, he broke the law…The American people, if we don’t have good and independent inspector generals are gonna see the swamp refill, they’re gonna see rampant waste, fraud, they’re gonna see corruption. It may be the president’s goal here.” Schiff added that he also disapproves of the January 6 pardons.
Photo courtesy of the Political Tribune media library.
