Sen. Graham faces backlash after reversal on filling RBG's SCOTUS seat
Graham asked that Americans “use my words against me” adding they “can say Lindsey Graham said” that the president in his last year should not make the nomination.
By EVE YOUNGUS Senator Lindsay Graham in Jerusalem 311(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
Senator Lindsay Graham (R-South Carolina) said on Saturday that he “will support [US] President [Donald] Trump in any effort to move forward regarding the recent vacancy created by the passing of Justice Ginsburg,” despite his 2016 statement that “if there is a Republican president in 2016 and a vacancy occurs in the last year of the first term… let’s let the next president, whoever it might be, make that nomination.”Two videos are circulating online of Graham saying that in the event of a Supreme Court vacancy in the last year of Trump’s first term, Republicans would wait until the next election to fill the seat. In the videos, Graham asked the audience to “use my words against me” and says that viewers “can say Lindsey Graham said” that the president in his last year should not make the nomination.One of the videos is of an interview Graham gave The Atlantic in 2018 in which he said that “if an opening comes up in the last year of President Trump’s term, and the primary process has started, we’ll wait till the next election."As chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Graham would oversee confirmation hearings for a Supreme Court nominee.Graham's statement that he would support Trump's nominee sparked intense reactions. with many circulating videos of his earlier statements and calling for him to adhere to his previously stated principles about Supreme Court confirmations in an election year.The senator told The Hill that circumstances are different than in 2016 and noted that both the Senate and the White House are held by Republicans.Graham also said that his decision was effected by a 2013 Senate rules change that allows a simple majority vote for circuit court nominations and the confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Graham said that Chuck Schumer and “liberal media” attempted to “destroy the life of Brett Kavanaugh and hold that Supreme Court seat open.”Less than two hours after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death was reported, unnamed sources said that Trump would nominate someone to fill her seat and US Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell promised that Trump’s nominee would receive a vote, according to Reuters.Presidential nominee Joe Biden stated that “the voters should pick the president, and the president should pick the justice for the Senate to consider,” according to Business Insider. Biden went on to recall that “this was the position the Republican Senate took in 2016” when the Senate blocked president Obama’s nominee and that it is the same position the Senate should take in this situation.
