Sen. Lindsey Graham blasted Donald Trump for “playing the TV game” and called Joe Biden “the best person to have” coming to the White House in an interview right after the Jan. 6 riot, according to leaked audio. The recordings were played by New York Times reporters Alex Burns and Jonathan Martin in an interview with CNN late Tuesday. The South Carolina Republican, who spoke to Martin following the deadly attempted insurrection, said the violence would lead to a “reset.” Asked if Biden could bring calm to the situation, he said, “totally,” before adding that he could “maybe be the best person to have.” As for Trump, Graham said he had “misjudged the passion.” “He plays the TV game and he went too far here.… That rally didn’t help, talking about primarying Liz [Cheney]. He created a sense of revenge,” he said. Though Graham has been seen as one of Trump’s most loyal allies, Burns and Martin’s new book, This Shall Not Pass, claims that he phoned the White House during the riot and threatened to invoke the 25th Amendment to have Trump booted from office.
