WASHINGTON — President Trump claimed Monday that the late Sen. Lindsey Graham had just “one bad moment” — when the South Carolina Republican denounced the 45th president on the Senate floor in the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
“He had one bad moment, and that was on the Jan. 6 thing when he stood up [and said], ‘All right, now I’ve had it. That’s it. I can’t do it anymore,’” Trump told “Fox & Friends” during a phone interview.
“Then he called me like about 40 minutes later, and he said, ‘Did I really say that? I can’t believe it.’ And he took it back.”
Graham, 71, who died suddenly Saturday night from an apparent aortic dissection due to cardiovascular disease, appeared to turn his back on Trump after his supporters stormed the Capitol and delayed the official count of Joe Biden’s 2020 Electoral College victory.
“Trump and I, we’ve had a hell of a journey. I hate it to end this way. Oh my God, I hate it. From my point of view, he’s been a consequential president,” Graham said after order was restored. “All I can say is count me out. Enough is enough.”
By May of that year, however, Graham was publicly back in the future president’s corner, telling reporters: “Can [Republicans] move forward without President Trump? The answer is no. I’ve determined we can’t grow without him.”
Graham had unsuccessfully sought the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, warning at one point that if the GOP nominated Trump, “we will get destroyed … and we will deserve it.”
“Once that ended, he’d left the race, and once that ended, I became really good friends with him,” Trump reflected on his friendship with Graham, while adding that his remarks after the Capitol riot meant “I give him a 99 instead of a 100.”
