Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, criticized former President Donald Trump for pledging to pardon individuals who participated in the January 6 insurrection if he wins in 2024, calling Trump's remarks "inappropriate."
Graham, a longtime Trump ally, went on to suggest that Trump's rhetoric is dangerous and stressed that those who participated in the insurrection, which took place after a mob of Trump's supporters stormed the United States Capitol on the false premise the election was stolen, should be jailed.
You can hear what Graham said in the video below.
Graham said:
“I think it’s inappropriate. I don’t want to reinforce that defiling the Capitol was okay. I don’t want to do anything that would make this more likely in the future."
"I hope they go to jail and get the book thrown at them because they deserve it.”
Graham's remarks came after Trump, speaking at a Texas rally, pledged to pardon rioters and urged his supporters to protest in the event prosecutors officially charge him with financial crimes.
Trump insisted that riot participants should be pardoned because "they are being treated so unfairly," though he did not offer specifics.
Graham, for his part, received considerable blowback from Republicans who cast him as a traitor to their cause.
The irony in Graham's remarks is that he has often backed Trump's lies and did play a part in legitimizing his complaints about the 2020 election among the Republican base despite the fact that they've been repeatedly debunked.
For instance, shortly after the election–which Joe Biden won decisively–Graham made headlines after he was criticized by Citizens for Ethics in Washington (CREW) for suggesting that officials should try to toss out legal ballots in the state of Georgia while a recount was underway.
Graham denied any wrongdoing, calling any suggestion “ridiculous.”
