no respect

Lindsey Graham has somehow managed to unite Democrats & Republicans with their shared loathing of him

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Senator Lindsey Graham

Lindsey Graham was one of Ukraine’s biggest supporters in Washington… until Donald Trump instructed him otherwise.

The gay-hating South Carolina senator, who pressed Congress last summer to allocate more aid for Ukraine for its war against Russia, recently opposed a $95 billion defense and foreign aid package that would’ve sent $60 billion to the beleaguered nation.

While Graham’s submission to Trump is no surprise, his senate colleagues are incensed about his constant flip-flopping.

“He got sucked into the Trump orbit, and he is so zealously about his own self-preservation in South Carolina that he literally would push his mother in front of a train to get to where he needs to be,” said a Democratic senator, via The Hill. “I hate to say it because I actually like him.”

If that’s what Graham’s friends think of him, imagine how his enemies feel!

Speaking at a rally last week, Trump said he thinks Ukraine should only receive more U.S. assistance in the form of a loan. Though the spending bill still passed the Senate, far-right House Speaker Mike Johnson has refused to bring it up for a vote.

Not coincidently, Johnson spent a portion of his President’s Day Weekend at Mar-a-Lago…

Once an ardent anti-Trumper, Graham has spent the last eight years trying to ingratiate himself with the MAGA crowd. He’s suffered countless embarrassments along the way, and destroyed his credibility.

Most recently, Graham, a long-time interventionist who’s pledged unyielding support for Ukraine and Israel, is now opposing aid to both allies. He’s posted about “standing with Israel in every way,” while voting against legislation that does exactly that.

Republicans are increasingly opposed to supporting Ukraine, largely thanks to Trump’s stated fealty towards Vladimir Putin. But Graham was a noted outlier. Just last summer, he tried to rally support for Ukraine on the Senate floor.

“We need to send a clear message to Putin that when it comes to your invasion of Ukraine, we’re going to support your loss. If we don’t do that, then we’re going to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory,” he said.

Graham also promised the Ukrainian people that the U.S. would continue to support them.

“To the brave men and women in Ukraine standing up against Russian aggression and in defense of their homeland, help is on the way,” he said.

But Graham voted against that help. His behavior is perplexing even some of his Republican colleagues.

“I don’t know what he’s doing, because Lindsey is a super smart guy,” said a GOP senator. “I don’t know whether he’s just trying to cover for Trump or what he’s doing, but I find it worrisome. He’s just so all over the map. It’s worrisome. I don’t know what to do.”

Another Republican senator didn’t mince words, either.

“Lindsey gets a pass on so many things because the answer is, ‘That’s just Lindsey.’ But that doesn’t seem like that’s a sufficient answer,” said the senator. “He’s so mercurial.”

Related:

Lindsey Graham’s latest outburst has us feeling so much secondhand embarrassment right now

Lindsey Graham has been having quite a week, and it’s only Wednesday.

While flip-flopping is nothing new in Washington, lawmakers find Graham’s inconsistency to be especially cynical.

“It’s annoying. It’s tiresome,” said the legislator. “Generally when a person gets to a place, you expect him to stay there.”

In return for his newfound opposition towards Ukrainian aid, Russian authorities are now seeking Graham’s arrest.

Seriously!

Russia recently added Graham to its list of extremists and terrorists. The measure seems to be in response to Graham calling Russia a “state sponsor of terrorism” following the mysterious death of opposition leader Alexey Navalny (authorities say he died at a maximum-security penal colony north of the Arctic Circle).

But yet, Graham is now doing Russia’s bidding, at least in regards to Ukraine. His outburst last week over Poland prime minister Donald Tusk criticizing Republicans for blocking aid money had us consumed with second-hand embarrassment.

“To the Prime Minister of Poland, I could care less what you think,” Graham seethed while angrily shaking his finger at a poster with Tusk’s enlarged social media post. “To the Prime Minister of Poland, if Ronald Reagan were alive today, we wouldn’t have this broken border!”

Never one to hide his admiration for Putin, Trump is now going all-in. Earlier this month, the disgraced ex-president said he would encourage the dictator to “do whatever he wants” to any NATO country that doesn’t contribute enough to the defense alliance.

While Graham stopped short of endorsing Trump’s green light to Putin, he didn’t express much disagreement, either.

“I want to have a system where if you don’t pay, you get kicked out. But no, I’m not inviting Russia to invade Ukraine,” he said. “President Trump is right to want NATO nations to meet their obligation of 2%.”

Despite Graham’s constant admiration for Trump, the GOP base still doesn’t dig him. Only 30% of South Carolina senators approve of the obsequious lawmaker, just one percentage point higher than Joe Biden.

It seems as if voters can spot a phony hiding in plain sight, much like Graham’s colleagues in the Senate.

Related:

Melania Trump used her White House office so rarely staff found another use for it

A spokesperson for Mrs Trump dismissed the reports as “misinformation”.

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