Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that former President Donald Trump’s rhetoric about immigrants was irrelevant.
Saturday, at a rally, Trump said, “They’re poisoning the blood of our country. That is what they’ve done. They’ve poisoned mental institutions and prisons all over the world. Not just in South America or three or four countries, but they’re coming into our country from Africa and Asia, and they’re pouring into our country.”
Anchor Kristen Welker said, “The Biden campaign has accused former President Trump of, quote, parroting Adolf Hitler. Are the President’s comments representative of how you and other Republicans feel?”
Graham said, “76% of the American people, not Donald Trump, believe the border is broken,” he said. “They’re worried about fentanyl coming over and killing their kids.”
Welker pressed, “But what about his language, Senator? Just that language that poisoning the blood.”
Graham said, “I’m worried about an outcome. He is right. He had the border secured, the lowest in 40 years, in December of 2020. To the Biden administration, you’re talking about Donald Trump’s language as you sat on the sidelines and allowed the country to be invaded — 172 people on the terrorist watch list have come on your watch.”
Welker asked, “Are you comfortable with him using words like that?”
Graham said, “You know, we’re talking about language. I couldn’t care less what language people use as long as we get it right. I believe in legal immigration. I have no animosity toward people trying to come to our country. I have animosity against terrorists and against drug dealers, but I understand why people want to come to America. But we have chaos, and we need to create order. If you think you’ve got to win the debate only legal immigration, picking a line out of the trump speech, most Americans understand the game has to change that we’re under threat, that we’re going to get attacked that our borders completely been obliterated. So if you’re talking about the language Trump uses rather than trying to fix that, that’s a losing strategy for the Biden administration.”
He added, “If the only thing you want to talk about on immigration the way Donald Trump talks, you’re missing a lot.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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