Republican senator Lindsey Graham (S.C.) reportedly told police officers to shoot rioters storming the Capitol on Jan. 6 as they ransacked the Senate chamber.
According to the Washington Post, Graham became angry as senators were rushed to a secure location in the building. He yelled at the Senate sergeant-at-arms. “What are you doing? Take back the Senate! You’ve got guns. Use them.'”
He then repeated himself: “We give you guns for a reason. Use them.”
According to the report, Graham along with some other Republican senators tried to contact Trump to tell him to call off his supporters.
Graham called Ivanka Trump “repeatedly with suggestions for what the president should say,” according to the report.
“This thing is going south. This is not good. You’re going to have to tell these people to stand down. Stand down,” he told her.
After the riot, Graham gave a speech on the Senate floor appearing to abandon Donald Trump and his bizarre claims of election fraud.
Months later, Graham remains one of the biggest supporters of the lie that the election was rigged while remaining close to Trump and endorsing the former president’s second run for the White House.
