Lindsey Graham says it’s probably best that Trump won’t attend Biden’s inauguration
After last week’s Capitol riot that left five people dead, Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham said President Donald Trump’s decision not to attend Joe Biden’s inauguration is probably for the best.
Outgoing presidents traditionally attend their successors swearing-in to illustrate the peaceful transfer of power. But the Jan. 6 riot at the capitol preceded by Trump’s comments have led to security concerns in Washington, D.C., and around the country.
“The statement he gave a couple of days ago was a major step in the right direction renouncing violence, saying that violence is not part of his movement,” Graham said speaking to reporters on Friday. “I reject tarnishing every Trump supporter by the actions of the rioters. Not going to the inauguration, maybe that’s best now, given the situation we’re in.”
Graham said he continues to encourage Trump and his administration to help with the transition.
But as the transition takes place to the Biden administration, the House of Representatives has impeached Trump for a second time, and the Senate is preparing for a possible trial and vote to bar the president from holding office again.
South Carolina’s senior senator said he believes the second impeachment, with the trial moving forward after Biden is in office, is unconstitutional, and going forward with it will encourage more dissension that could lead to further violence.
“It’s never been done for a reason. It sets up a never ending retribution,” Graham said. “The president’s conduct on Wednesday (Jan. 6) is subject to the law of the land. If you believe he committed a crime, he could still be prosecuted after he’s out of office. I don’t believe the words of the president were criminal. I think they were a big mistake. I think his presence there was wrong.”
Graham added this additional impeachment will hurt the office of the presidency.
“If the reason they’re doing this is to put a scarlet letter on Donald Trump so he can’t run again, play that out. Anything they can do, we can do,” Graham said. “Are we going to go back in our history, and purge every president that we don’t agree with?... I think the idea of impeaching him for the sole reason to make sure he can’t run again will destroy the presidency itself.”
Graham said he looks forward to getting another COVID package in place. He said he can support some of Biden’s $1.9 trillion proposal, including money for vaccine distribution and larger direct payments to middle and low income families.
However, he would not support money to help states with financial issues before the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’re not going to bail out a bunch of poorly run blue states in the name of COVID relief,” Graham said. “But I will work with President Biden to get a package sooner rather than later because people in South Carolina are hurting. The virus is raging throughout the state.”
Graham, who traveled with the president to Texas earlier this week, said he believes Trump will be an important voice in the Republican Party as long as he’s around. He again touted the tax cuts, vaccine development, border security and Middle East peace agreements as accomplishments.
“ ’Use that power wisely’ is what I told him this morning,” Graham said. “So Mr. President, you have a lot to be proud of in terms of accomplishments in policy. What happened on Jan. 6th is going to be part of this legacy. I think he pushed ‘the election was stolen’ too far, too long and too hard. And it seems to me that the president is ready to move on. He has been a friend. I will continue to work with him in the future, but I also look forward to working with President Biden.”
This story was originally published January 15, 2021 at 3:34 PM.
