MAGA Melts Down After Lindsey Graham Makes Painfully Obvious Point About Trump's January 6 Pardons

After South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham called President Donald Trump's pardoning of violent January 6 rioters "a mistake," MAGA fans online were up in arms.

Rioters imprisoned for their involvement in the attack were released, and judges began dismissing dozens of pending cases on Tuesday following Trump’s sweeping grant of clemency to all 1,500-plus individuals charged in the insurrection.

RELATED: Two Capitol Rioters Go Viral After Refusing Trump Pardon: 'I Broke The Law'

Trump’s executive order upended what had been the largest prosecution in Justice Department history, freeing individuals captured on camera brutally assaulting police officers as well as leaders of far-right extremist groups convicted of plotting violent efforts to halt the peaceful transfer of power after his election defeat.

Graham had this to say when asked by Meet the Press host Kristen Welker whether Trump had been “wrong” to pardon the insurrectionists:

“No. 1, he had the legal authority to do it. But I fear that you will get more violence. Pardoning the people who went into the Capitol and beat up a police officer, violently, I think, was a mistake because it seems to suggest that’s an OK thing to do.”

Graham compared Trump’s decision to pardon violent offenders to former President Joe Biden’s pardoning of several family members during his final hours in office:

“You know, Biden pardoned half his family going out the door. I think most Americans, if this continues ... will revisit the pardon power of the president, if this continues. As to pardoning violent people who beat up cops, I think that’s a mistake.”

You can hear what Graham said in the video below.

Graham was swiftly called out by furious Trump supporters—many of whom said he should no longer be in office—for not marching in lockstep behind Trump.

However, it's worth noting that Graham was one of the senators who voted to acquit Trump on charges that he'd incited the insurrection.

Graham was very cozy with Trump at the time, at one point gloating to CNN that Trump "appreciated the help that all of us [in the GOP] provided" in acquitting him.

In fact, he told Chris Wallace:

“He’s excited about 2022. And I’m going to go down to talk with him next week, play a little golf in Florida. And I said, ‘Mr. President this MAGA movement needs to continue, we need to unite the party.’“

Many on the left also criticized Graham, noting that he played a significant role in the effort not to hold Trump accountable for the Capitol attack.

Graham, who has often been accused of playing both sides of the aisle, has criticized Trump on the topic of January 6 pardons before.

He said in 2022 that Trump's pledge to pardon rioters in the event he won the 2024 election was "inappropriate," saying he didn't "want to reinforce that defiling the Capitol was okay" and that he didn't "want to do anything that would make this more likely in the future."

And yet 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 2020 election, 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.”