Graham on indictments: ‘If you claim you’re cheated as a Republican, they’re going to try to put you in jail’

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Wednesday railed against the recent indictments of former President Trump for his efforts to remain in power following the 2020 election, accusing prosecutors of being motivated by political bias. 

“He’s being prosecuted in a way to make challenging an election a crime just for him,” Graham said in an interview on Fox News’s “Hannity.” “You can claim you were cheated if you’re a Democrat. If you claim you were cheated as a Republican, they’re going to try to put you in jail.” 

Graham also repeated an argument Trump and his team have been making, claiming Trump cannot get a fair trial in a district that did not support him in the 2020 election. He downplayed the significance of the charges and claimed Trump was being charged for “telling people to watch a network show about the election.”

Trump was recently indicted in Fulton County, Ga., over his efforts to overturn the election results in Georgia. The indictment was unveiled Monday and accused Trump and 18 co-defendants of racketeering, among other charges. 

Trump was also indicted on a federal level earlier this month over his efforts to cling to power in 2020. He faces charges in in New York related to hush money payments ahead of the 2016 election. 

In a poll released Wednesday, 54 percent of Americans said they thought Trump should face federal charges for his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, as opposed to 42 percent who did not. Nearly two-thirds of Americans also said they view the charges as serious.