Senate

Graham accuses media of painting Trump as a ‘kook,’ but once used same attack himself

by Rebecca Savransky

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) accused the media Thursday of trying to label President Trump as a “kook” who isn’t fit to be president, but Graham once used those same words himself to characterize Trump in 2016.

In an interview Thursday on CNN, Graham raised concerns about the way the press covers Trump.

“What concerns me about the American press is this endless, endless attempt to label the guy some kind of kook not fit to be president,” Graham said Thursday.

{mosads}”He did win, by the way.”

But Graham lodged similar criticisms of his own against Trump when he was a presidential candidate in 2016.

During a previous interview on Fox News, Graham said then-candidate Trump was an “kook” and that the Republicans would get “slaughtered” in the presidential election if Trump became the nominee.

“I think he’s a kook. I think he’s crazy. I think he’s unfit for office,” Graham, who backed former Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush at the time, said during the February 2016 interview.
 
“I’m a Republican, and he’s not. He’s not a conservative Republican, he’s an opportunist,” Graham said on the program. “He’s not fit to be president of the United States.”
 
Graham, a former presidential candidate, was a harsh critic of Trump during his presidential campaign. 
 
Graham said in a tweet after he voted that he cast his ballot for independent candidate Evan McMullin instead of voting for Trump.
 
Graham has since criticized Trump for some of his actions since he became president.
 
On Thursday, he called Trump’s decision to share unverified videos purporting to show violence committed by Muslims “inappropriate” and “very unhelpful” in the war on terrorism.

Senate