COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — More than three decades after Lindsey Graham first arrived in Washington, he has everything he could ever want. The senator has President Donald Trump ‘s ear, a war in Iran and a well-funded path to reelection in his home state of South Carolina.
Now it’s just a question of what those things will cost the Republican Party — and the rest of the United States — in this election year where control of Congress hangs in the balance. The conflict is already deeply unpopular with no clear endgame, as oil prices rise and fighting spreads throughout the Middle East.
But Graham, who filed to run for a fifth term on Monday, revealed no doubts while speaking to supporters at his campaign office. Graham said he spoke to Trump on Sunday night and Monday morning as he defended his role in pushing the country toward war.
“We haven’t underestimated Iran at all,” he said. “We’re crushing them.”
Graham has been advocating for direct confrontation between Washington and Tehran for more than a decade. He rejected the Iran nuclear deal negotiated under President Barack Obama, cheered on Trump’s decision to strike nuclear sites last year and dismissed bipartisan criticism about his bellicose rhetoric.
“If the radical cleric in Iran had a nuclear weapon, he would use it just as certainly as Hitler were to use it. He would kill all the Jews, and we’re next,” Graham said Monday. “I’ll put my efforts to make sure the military has what they need to win the wars we’re in, ahead of anybody in the United States Senate.”
Graham has rarely faced a serious challenge when campaigning for reelection, and there’s no sense that this year will be any different. However, what happens with the war could reshape the midterms and Graham’s legacy as one of Washington’s most outspoken hawks.
“You’re seeing essentially a child on Christmas morning who has gotten everything that he’s ever dreamed of,” said Jon Hoffman, a research fellow in defense and foreign policy with the Cato Institute, a libertarian leaning think tank. “And that’s not best for the country, obviously, but it’s best for Lindsey Graham’s ideology.”
Graham is a leading hawk on Iran
Iran has long been in Graham’s crosshairs. As a member of the U.S. House in the 1990s, he backed policies aimed at isolating the country and limiting its missile and nuclear programs.
Graham was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2002, as war with Iraq approached, and he frequently warned that Iran was taking advantage of the conflict to expand its regional influence.
During 2015 remarks at the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations, Graham said he wanted the U.S. military to “stop them and make them pay a price so they’ll never want to do it again.”
“Let’s make sure that their air force, their navy and their army is a shell of its former self,” Graham said. “And let’s be ready to respond when they hit us.”
Graham’s aggressive foreign policy originally seemed to be a poor fit for Trump, whose “America First” agenda is skeptical of overseas conflicts, and their relationship has fluctuated over the years. However, they’ve become golfing buddies who share an affinity for bold military action.
It’s a stance that has frustrated some Republicans
“Lindsey hasn’t seen a fist fight he hasn’t wanted to turn into a bombing raid,” complained Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee when asked about Graham’s interest in expanding its bombing campaign to Lebanon.
As Graham appeared on nearly every cable news show in February to push the case for war, some conservative critics described him as callous and fretted about his influence over Trump.
“When did Lindsey Graham become our president?” Megyn Kelly, the former Fox News host, posted on social media.
“Let’s get real. The problem with Lindsay Graham isn’t (just) that he’s a homicidal maniac, it’s that Trump likes and is listening to him, and Trump’s favorite channel” — a reference to Fox News — “is parading him around like a Hefner bunny in stockings on every show,” she said.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump “hears from lawmakers all the time on a number of issues” and he has “very good and candid” rapport with Graham.
“Republicans are supportive of President Trump’s bold decision to launch combat operations and end the threat posed by the Iranian terrorist regime,” Leavitt said in a statement.
When it’s election season, Graham burnishes conservative creds
Through the years, Graham has taken on and handily defeated primary challengers from the right who didn’t see him as conservative enough for South Carolina, with Graham’s critics arguing that he was too conciliatory and too eager to work out deals with Democrats on issues such as immigration alongside his longtime ally and friend, the late Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona.
During reelection campaigns, Graham tends to emphasize his conservatism. In 2020, when running against Democrat Jaime Harrison, Graham frequently reminded voters that he had passionately defended Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh during Senate confirmation hearings.
On Monday, as his supporters cheered, Graham doubled down on his support for Trump’s decision to strike Iran, saying he felt “morale is high” among U.S. armed forces, and that sending him back to Washington would help “give them what they need to win a war they can’t afford to lose.”
“I’m running for the Senate to build up a military and use it wisely. I’m running for the Senate to help President Trump, not standing in his way,” Graham said. “Do you think a Democratic candidate would help Trump do what he needs to do?”
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Amiri reported from New York.
Meg Kinnard And Farnoush Amiri, The Associated Press
