Donald Trump called Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C) a “RINO,” an acronym for ‘Republican in Name Only’ in an interview on Tuesday after Graham said pardoning Jan. 6 Capitol rioters would be “inappropriate.”
“You talked about the potential, if it’s appropriate, of pardoning some of the January 6ers,” Newsmax host Rob Schmitt asked Trump. “Lindsey Graham said a couple days later, he thinks that’s inappropriate. What do you think?”
“Well, Lindsey Graham’s wrong. I mean, Lindsey’s a nice guy, but he’s a RINO. Lindsey’s wrong,” Trump said.
“Lindsey Graham doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about if he says that,” he added.
At his rally in Cornoe, Texas on Saturday Trump floated the idea of pardoning his supporters who pleaded guilty to crimes relating to Jan. 6 if he runs and wins the presidency in 2024.
“Another thing we’ll do, and so many people have been asking me about it, if I run and if I win we will treat those people from January 6 fairly,” Trump said. “And if it requires pardons we will give them pardons because they are being treated so unfairly.”
On Jan. 6 a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol to block the certification of electoral votes after they were fed lies by the former president and his allies about the election being stolen.
Asked about Trump’s comments at his Texas rally on Saturday, Graham said it is “inappropriate,” adding “I don’t want to send any signal that it was OK to defile the Capitol.”
