Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) shrugged off the “catch-and-kill” scheme at the heart of Donald Trump’s hush-money trial on Sunday, claiming that it wasn’t a big deal because “a lot of celebrities” had done the same thing with the National Enquirer.
CNN anchor Dana Bash, meanwhile, helpfully reminded the Trump sycophant that those celebrities weren’t running for president at the time.
During an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union, Graham said that he believes the Supreme Court will likely send Trump’s immunity claims back to a lower court to decide which actions fall under the scope of presidential immunity. He also added that it doesn’t worry him at all that this could mean the ex-president’s criminal cases won’t be decided before November’s election.
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“You know, why don’t you ask me if he’s convicted in any of these trials, would it change my view? No! I think all these trials are political,” Graham declared. “I think it’s selective prosecution. I think what’s going on in New York is an outrage! The case is eight years ago. They created a crime just for Trump.”
The presumptive GOP presidential nominee is currently on trial for 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to conceal a sex scandal involving adult film star Stormy Daniels, who was allegedly paid $130,000 just before the 2016 election to stay quiet about the alleged affair.
The senator, who remains one of Trump’s most loyal supporters even though the former president publicly belittles him on a regular basis, also grumbled that Trump is facing multiple criminal cases while President Joe Biden and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton avoid prosecution. Bash, meanwhile, pressed Graham to address some of the recent revelations in the ongoing hush-money trial.
“I just do want to ask you one specific question about what we heard this past week, and that is David Pecker, who ran the National Enquirer’s parent company, testified that he paid to ‘catch-and-kill’ about Trump—specifically to help his presidential campaign,” the CNN anchor noted. “You don’t have any concerns about that?”
After a brief pause, the Republican lawmaker replied that “a lot of celebrities do this,” pointing out that Pecker had also testified that he made deals to kill salacious stories about golf legend Tiger Woods and former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
“No! I think the whole thing is a crock! The statute of limitations has long shut out the misdemeanor cases,” he groused, adding: “Alvin Bragg took a case that was rejected by the federal government to resurrect these misdemeanors. I think it’s a political hitjob on Trump six months out from the election.”
Bash, on the other hand, informed her viewers that “obviously, Tiger Woods is not running for president.” Graham laughed that off, saying, “I got it,” before reiterating that he believes the case is “political B.S.”
The State of the Union host followed up just to “underscore” whether Graham would still support and vote for Trump if the ex-president were convicted, prompting the senator to exclaim “absolutely” while fuming that the case is “weaponization of the law” against Trump.
