Lindsey Graham Surprisingly Fact Checks CNN on Live TV, Comes Out Swinging For Matt Gaetz!?

Senator Lindsey Graham has surprisingly come out in defense of Matt Gaetz.  And maybe just as surprisingly, he fact checked CNN live on air in the process!

A gaggle of reporters caught up with the Republican Senator from South Carolina today in the Capitol building.

CNN specifically asked Graham about the allegations of sexual misconduct against President Trump’s Attorney General appointment, Mike Gaetz — to which Graham shockingly responded with facts, common sense, and none of the limp-wristed lack of backbone he is known for.  Watch the clip!

BIG: Lindsey Graham defends Matt Gaetz and fact-checks CNN live. pic.twitter.com/w0cGlY5bV1

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) November 19, 2024

Lindsey Graham has often been the posterchild for the RINOs in Congress, rarely choosing to stand and fight for solid conservative principles whenever straddling the fence was an option.

He has so often sided with so-called moderates and the left-leaning democrats that I’m not sure the reporters knew how to handle his sudden stiff pushback against their attempt to use the “but, there are allegations!” smear tactic.

Graham specifically said that he feared that Gaetz’ nomination process “is turning into an angry mob”, and mere allegations are being treated as facts, according to a report on Fox News:

“My record is clear. I tend to defer to presidential cabinet choices unless the evidence suggests disqualification,” said the South Carolina senator.

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“I fear the process surrounding the Gaetz nomination is turning into an angry mob, and unverified allegations are being treated as if they are true. I have seen this movie before.”

Graham appears to be alluding to the 2018 confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, which was rocked by unproven allegations of sexual assault made by Christine Blasey Ford. Kavanaugh emphatically denied Ford’s claims, and she was never able to identify the time and place of the alleged assault or provide corroborating witnesses to support her account.

Kavanaugh was narrowly confirmed, mostly along party lines, after Ford provided emotional testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee, of which Graham served as chairman.

Senator Graham, to his credit, first showed signs of a backbone a week ago concerning President Trump’s decision to put Matt Gaetz forward as his AG pick.

Last Wednesday he said very clearly on Fox News that he is “predisposed” to allowing a President the opportunity to pick their own cabinet without pre-disqualifying candidates based on something as insubstantial as mere allegations.

Graham: He won the election, he deserves a chance to pick his cabinet. I am predisposed to allow him to do that. I think Matt Gaetz is very bright. I think he's qualified. pic.twitter.com/cglMCbOBP0

— Acyn (@Acyn) November 14, 2024

It should be noted that Senator Graham met with JD Vance and Mike Gaetz prior to the CNN interaction this morning.

I’m not sure of all the details discussed during their meeting, but Graham shared this on his personal X account following his closed-door discussion with JD Vance and Gaetz:

I had a very good meeting with President Trump’s nominee for Attorney General, Matt Gaetz, and Vice President-elect JD Vance. I am committed to allowing the process to go forward in a manner consistent with past practices and fundamental fairness. This process will not be a rubber stamp nor will it be driven by a lynch mob.

My record is clear. I tend to defer to presidential cabinet choices unless the evidence suggests disqualification.

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I fear the process surrounding the Gaetz nomination is turning into an angry mob, and unverified allegations are being treated as if they are true. I have seen this movie before.

I would urge all of my Senate colleagues, particularly Republicans, not to join the lynch mob and give the process a chance to move forward. After years of being investigated by the Department of Justice, no charges were brought against Matt Gaetz. This is something we should all remember.

I would also urge my colleagues to go back to a time-tested process, receive relevant information, and give the nominee a chance to make their case as to why they should be confirmed. This standard – which I have long adhered to – has served the Senate and country well.

I had a very good meeting with President Trump’s nominee for Attorney General, Matt Gaetz, and Vice President-elect JD Vance. I am committed to allowing the process to go forward in a manner consistent with past practices and fundamental fairness. This process will not be a…

— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) November 20, 2024

Regarding the allegations against Gaetz, a spokesman for President Trump’s transition team, Alex Pfeiffer, said that Matt Gaetz “will be” the next AG.

Pfeiffer pinned blame for the allegations squarely on former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, according to a report by CBS News:

Accompanied by Vice President-elect JD Vance, a senator from Ohio, Gaetz is sitting down with Republican senators, whose votes will be crucial in confirming him to the position of the nation’s top law enforcement officer next year. The GOP is set to take control of the Senate in the next Congress and hold 53 seats, but Gaetz will need backing from a majority of the chamber to win confirmation.

The Republican has denied wrongdoing and called the Ethics probe a “smear.” He has blamed the investigation on former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, whom Gaetz helped oust last year. Alex Pfeiffer, a spokesman for Trump’s transition, said in a statement Monday that “Matt Gaetz will be the next Attorney General. He’s the right man for the job and will end the weaponization of our justice system. These are baseless allegations intended to derail the second Trump administration.”

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Trump told reporters Tuesday that he is not reconsidering his selection for attorney general.

Considering Gaetz’ history of loyalty to President Trump during the smear campaigns against him over the last few years, it should go without saying that most Congressional democrats are terrified — shaking in their boots — imagining Mike Gaetz at the head of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Eric Swalwell (Rep. CA) is not handling the possibility very well at all.  In fact, he is in flat out denial that such a thing could even happen.

Hahaha Eric Swalwell isn’t coping well with the fact that Gaetz is going to be his daddy soon.

This is what complete denial looks like. He even fantasizes that President Trump is playing a joke on them to “own the libs” 😂

“I don’t want people to get too spun up about this. I… pic.twitter.com/L9FhF1FmmM

— TheStormHasArrived (@TheStormRedux) November 13, 2024

The memory of the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings may be weighing heavy on those Republicans who would have a vested interested (namely their own re-elections) in avoiding anything resembling a repeat of that witch hunt taking place on their watch, as pointed out by a report in The Hill:

Graham appeared to be alluding to sexual assault allegations that were made against conservative Judge Brett Kavanaugh when Trump nominated him to serve on the Supreme Court in 2018.

Kavanaugh’s Senate confirmation became bitterly contentious after Christine Blasey Ford accused him of sexually assaulting her decades earlier at a high school party in Bethesda, Md.

Kavanaugh was ultimately confirmed on a mostly party-line vote.

Some Republicans, including Graham, are starting to deploy the same arguments from that time — that the allegations of sexual misconduct against Gaetz remain unproven.

“After years of being investigated by the Department of Justice, no charges were brought against Matt Gaetz. This is something we should all remember,” Graham said in his statement.

Graham said he had “a very good meeting” with Gaetz and Vance and pledged the confirmation process to go forward “in a manner consistent with past practices and fundamental fairness.”

But as Senator Graham himself stated, that meeting with Graetz and Vance was “a very good meeting”.

While I’m not ready to remove the RINO label, it seems as though the Senator from South Carolina, known for straddling the fence, is having a hard time getting away with that tactic at the moment.

It appears that President Trump’s sweeping victory, and the unprecedented mandate he is wielding with his bold cabinet picks and nominations, may simply be too much heat for the historical Republican fence-sitters to handle.