As President Donald Trump prepares to take his oath of office and reclaim the White House, one of his fair-weather friends in Congress decided to stand up for him during an interview on Sunday.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) appeared on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” for a segment during which host Margaret Brennan honed in Trump’s nomination of Kash Patel to lead the FBI.
The South Carolina Republican reacted abruptly to the ensuring line of questioning, as the Daily Caller reported:
“Lindsey Graham, this is a far cry from the question about Kash Patel,” Brennan said. “You took me all the way to Israel from Kash Patel. Are you committing to vote for him no matter what?”
“I won’t say no matter what,” Graham responded. “Yes, I am ready to vote for Kash Patel because you will never ask me the role he played in exposing the darkest moment of the FBI since J. Edgar Herbert. That’s why I trust him.”
Brennan hit back one last time, telling the senator to, “Ask him about going after journalists, which he’s also said. I’m interested in the answer to that.”
“Yeah, I’m sure Democratic friends will ask him,” Graham said. “You shouldn’t worry about Kash Patel. You should worry about reporting the news fairly, which you don’t do when it comes to everything Trump.”
Graham shared a clip of the on-air exchange via social media and included a comment reiterating his support for Patel:
I’m ready to vote for Kash Patel for FBI Director because he played a pivotal role in exposing one of the darkest moments of the FBI — the Russia collusion hoax.
The mainstream media needs to stop worrying about Kash Patel and start focusing on reporting news regarding… pic.twitter.com/hYWLldIKBw
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) January 19, 2025
A number of enthusiastically supportive comments soon followed:
Well, I actually agree with Lindsey
— ROLL TIDE🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈 (@DeniseWalden11) January 19, 2025
Senator Graham, you hit the bullseye 🎯! More than 77 million of us thank you!!!
— Michael Donofrio (@m7donofrio) January 19, 2025
Lets get him in quickly. @LindseyGrahamSC You know what threats we are facing. We need to put him higher up on the senate’s priority list.
— Erin Hollingsworth (@erinhd76) January 19, 2025
Thank you for setting Margaret straight
— Buckeyeusa (@ulryfam5) January 19, 2025
Here’s what Trump had to say about Patel upon announcing the nomination in November, per The Hill:
“Kash is a brilliant lawyer, investigator, and ‘America First’ fighter who has spent his career exposing corruption, defending Justice, and protecting the American People. He played a pivotal role in uncovering the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, standing as an advocate for truth, accountability, and the Constitution,” Trump said in a Saturday post on his social media site Truth Social.
Trump’s announcement indicated he plans to fire current FBI Director Christopher Wray, who Trump first nominated in 2017 and whose 10-year term otherwise wouldn’t be up until 2027.
The FBI did not directly address Patel’s nomination.
ADVERTISEMENT“Every day, the men and women of the FBI continue to work to protect Americans from a growing array of threats. Director Wray’s focus remains on the men and women of the FBI, the people we do the work with, and the people we do the work for,” the agency said in a statement Saturday night.
Here’s a full clip of Graham’s appearance on “Face the Nation”:
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