[WARNING: Article Contains Strong Language]
During the bipartisan immigration meeting on Tuesday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who has voiced strong opposition to Trump in the past, said the following to the president:
I’ve been doing this for ten years. I don’t think I’ve seen a better chance to get it done than I do right now – because of you. John’s right. I’m not gonna support a bill if you don’t support it.
I’ve had my head beat out a bunch, I’m still standing. I’m Lindsey Grahamesty, Lindsey Gomez, you name every name you want to give to me, it’s been assigned to me. And I’m still standing.
The people of South Carolina want a result. How could I get elected? I’ve been for a pathway to citizenship for 11 million people because I have no animosity toward them. I don’t want crooks, I don’t want bad hombres, I want to get a merit-based immigration system to make sure we can succeed in the 21st century. I’m willing to be more than fair to the 11 million, I just don’t wanna do this every twenty years.
Now, we made the decision, Mr. President, not to do it comprehensively. I think that’s a smart decision, but a hard decision. We’ve passed three comprehensive bills out of the Senate with over 65 votes that go to the House and die – and I’m not being disparaging to my House colleagues. This is tough politics if you’re Republican House member turning on the radio. To my Democratic friends, thanks for coming. The resist movement hates this guy [points to Trump]. They don’t want him to be successful at all.
You turn on Fox News and I can hear the drum beat coming. Right-wing radio and TV talk show hosts are gonna beat the crap out of us ’cause it’s gonna be amnesty all over again. I don’t know if the Republican and Democratic Party can define love, but I think what we can do is do what the American people want us to do. 62% of the Trump voters support a pathway to citizenship for the DACA kids if you have strong borders.
You have created an opportunity here, Mr. President, and you need to close the deal.
Here’s the video (pertinent portion begins at the 1:24 mark):
On Wednesday, alleged comedian Chelsea Handler sent out a tweet mocking Sen. Graham:
Twitter users hit back hard, calling Handler’s remarks homophobic:
As of this publication, Handler’s tweet has been “liked” 21,900 times and retweeted more than 4,700 times. Handler has neither deleted the tweet nor apologized for it.