A boisterous crowd of supporters of former President Donald Trump voiced their displeasure Saturday when Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) took the stage in Pickens, South Carolina.
After the negative response from the gathering, the 2024 Republican frontrunner defended Graham. Even then, some audible boos came from the crowd when his name was mentioned.
When the senator walked out before the audience, it was almost a minute before he could begin speaking. Graham urged the vocal gathering to “just calm down for a second” when the derision continued.
Graham told the enthusiastic Trump supporters that he knows how to win an election. “You get people together that don’t agree all of the time on the most important things.” He further declared his support for the former president and said he will be the 2024 GOP nominee.
According to Associated Press reporter Meg Kinnard’s tweet, “Nonstop boos for 4+ minutes now for @LindseyGrahamSC, one of Trump’s top Senate allies.”
The journalist noted that Graham triumphed in his 2020 reelection campaign by more than 10 points but is not as popular in more conservative parts of South Carolina.
Lindsey Graham was introduced at Trump’s rally in his home state of South Carolina & the crowd viciously booed him
Humiliating
There are many reasons why they did, but #1 is due to his support of the War in Ukraine
We’re done with NeoCon Warmongerspic.twitter.com/kAskD5flTR
— DC_Draino (@DC_Draino) July 1, 2023
Graham has a checkered history concerning Trump, initially condemning his presidential candidacy in 2016 before changing course and becoming an ardent supporter. But even that loyalty faltered when the senator criticized protesters in the Jan. 6 incident.
His strident support of U.S. involvement in the Ukraine War has also drawn backlash from many who see it as unnecessary on the part of the U.S.
Graham recently met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and asserted that “the Russians are dying.” He further called the billions sent to the nation “the best money we’ve ever spent.”
The Russian Interior Ministry issued an arrest warrant for Graham just days later.
Statements made last year concerning Russian President Vladimir Putin’s possible assassination along with “regime change” led to charges of Graham being a “neocon.” And clearly, many Trump supporters are unhappy with his political stances.
That did not deter Graham from doubling down on his backing of the former president. “There’s one person running for president as a Republican that has the ability to change this country. It is Donald J. Trump. He did it once, he can do it again.”
