Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol January 7, 2021 in Washington, DC.
Alex Wong/Getty Images
Sen. Lindsey Graham said on Sunday that Trump will be remembered for the Capitol riot.
“January the 6th was a very bad day for America, and he’ll get his share of blame in history,” Graham said.
The Capitol riot on January 6 left at least five people, including one police officer, dead.
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Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of Donald Trump’s staunchest allies, said Sunday that the Capitol riot will be a defining part of the former president’s legacy.
Trump “is the most popular figure in the Republican Party” and “had a consequential presidency,” Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” Sunday. “January the 6th was a very bad day for America, and he’ll get his share of blame in history.”
—Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) February 7, 2021The Capitol riot on January 6 left at least five people, including one police officer, dead. Members of the Proud Boys, which is classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, were reportedly present.
Organizers were emboldened by Trump’s urges to protest the results of the 2020 election with him, despite Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory. While members of Congress were meeting inside the Capitol building day to certify the results, supporters organized an attempted coup and entered the Capitol building.
Read more: Trump is plotting a campaign revenge tour targeting GOP defectors after Senate impeachment trial
Lawmakers were forced to remain in lockdown as rioters stormed the building.
Graham’s comments come as Trump’s legal team prepares to give a defense of the former president during his second impeachment trial, which begins this week in the Senate.
In January, 10 House Republicans voted in favor of an incitement of insurrection charge. Senate Republicans, on the other hand, are banding together against the charge, calling it unconstitutional.
Graham is one of those Republicans.
“The bottom line is the impeachment articles, I think, are unconstitutional because the president is in Florida,” Graham said on CBS. “He’s not in office. Impeachment for a president requires the chief justice to preside over the trial. He’s not at the trial because President Trump is not the president. So this is not process.”
Graham went on to say he thinks the Constitution “is being flagrantly violated because, when it comes to Trump, there seems to be no end to all of this. So, the trial is going to result in an acquittal.”
Still, Graham suggested Trump is at least partially to blame for the Capitol riot last month, saying he is “going to have a place in history” for it.
These comments mark at least the second time that Graham pinned some of the blame for inciting the Capitol riot on Trump. The first time came a day after the riot when Graham publicly rebuked Trump.
“When it comes to accountability, the president needs to understand that his actions were the problem, not the solution,” Graham said at a news conference. The president’s legacy has been “tarnished,” Graham added.
“It breaks my heart that my friend, a president of consequence, would allow yesterday to happen and it will be a major part of his presidency,” he said. “It was a self-inflicted wound.”
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