South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham blasted the American justice system and the recent indictment of former President Donald Trump on Sunday, comparing his alleged actions to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Appearing on ABC’s “This Week” with host George Stephanopoulos, Graham said that Trump is “stronger” politically than he was before the second indictment. He also says that espionage charges against the former president are “completely wrong” because it associates Trump with whistleblowers like Edward Snowden and Julian Assange, which he believes is an unfair comparison.
“We live in an America where if you’re the Democratic candidate for president, Hillary Clinton, secretary of state, you can set up a private server in your basement to conduct government business, and when an investigation is had about your activity…” Graham said as he was interrupted by Stephanopoulos.
“What I don’t like is a system in America where the secretary of state — who’s a Democratic candidate for president — has people take a hammer to social media devices and break them apart, apply BleachBit to a hard drive to erase emails, allow classified information to get on a felon’s computer — Anthony Weiner — you haven’t even mentioned that,” Graham told the host.
“Most Republicans believe we live in a country where Hillary Clinton did similar things and nothing happened to her. Pres. Trump will have his day in court, but espionage charges are absolutely ridiculous,” GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham tells @GStephanopoulos. https://t.co/TAi6FOqGGJ pic.twitter.com/l0ld91Wxw6
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) June 11, 2023
Graham added that he believed the majority of Republicans see a “double standard” applied to politicians on a partisan basis, pointing specifically to Clinton, who “did very similar things and nothing happened to her.”
“This double standard is real in the minds of most Republicans,” he said.
While he has endorsed the former president’s third bid, Graham acknowledged that he’s not arguing Trump’s alleged actions were flawless but that the law is applied unequally in the United States. The senator said he wanted to review the system in which politicians and presidents handle classified information. Graham added that Trump would argue the Presidential Records Act but made clear his view that the espionage charges are wrong and that the justice system is being used against the former president in nefarious ways.
“I think Donald Trump is stronger today politically than he was before,” Graham said. “We’ll have an election and we’ll have a trial, but I promise you this: Most Americans believe, most Republicans believe, that the law is used as a weapon against Donald Trump.”
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Graham also pointed to President Joe Biden and former Vice President Mike Pence’s classified document scandals, saying he doesn’t “like any of that.”
On Thursday, a federal indictment from the Southern District of Florida charged Trump with 37 counts, including alleged violations of the Espionage Act. Trump told POLITICO the recent indictment wouldn’t prevent him from continuing his campaign, saying he would “never leave” the race.
Trump is expected to appear in court on Tuesday.