- Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown said that Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham yelled at a Capitol Police officer during last week’s riot.
- “Lindsey Graham, with his mask off, started screaming at one of the officers — I think it was one of the captains — saying: ‘How come you didn’t protect us? It’s your job,'” Brown told MSNBC.
- Brown used the anecdote to criticize Graham, saying: “This is the same Lindsey Graham that for four years defended and argued for and encouraged and aided and abetted this president and all of his followers.”
- Despite his previous support for President Donald Trump, Graham has strongly condemned the Capitol rioters, calling them “domestic terrorists” and blaming Trump for inciting them.
- Graham’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Brown’s remarks.
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Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham told off a police officer with his mask off while members of Congress sheltered during last week’s Capitol riot, according to his Democratic colleague Sen. Sherrod Brown.
Brown told MSNBC on Monday that he witnessed the South Carolina senator yelling at an officer after they had been ushered out of the Senate chamber last Wednesday.
“Lindsey Graham, with his mask off, started screaming at one of the officers – I think it was one of the captains – saying, ‘How come you didn’t protect us? It’s your job,'” Brown recalled.
—The Beat with Ari Melber on MSNBC 📺 (@TheBeatWithAri) January 12, 2021
Brown used the anecdote to criticize Graham, saying: “This is the same Lindsey Graham that for four years defended and argued for and encouraged and aided and abetted this president and all of his followers.”
Graham’s office did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment on Brown’s remarks.
While Graham has been a staunch defender of President Donald Trump and his supporters over the last four years, he condemned them over last week’s Capitol breach.
Last week Graham said he was “embarrassed and disgusted” by teh breach, and called the perpetrators “domestic terrorists.” He also said that Trump should be to blame for the riot, saying: “When it comes to accountability, the president needs to understand that his actions were the problem, not the solution.”
In a tweet last Friday, Graham also said that the rioters should be “prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
However, he is not supportive of the Democratic effort to impeach the president for inciting a mob.
A video posted on Twitter on Friday showed Graham being harassed by a group of Trump supporters at Reagan National Airport in Washington, DC, with people shouting “Traitor!” and “You’re a liar!”
Brown and Graham have unsurprisingly differed on political issues in the past, including recently on the issue of police reform. But they have found common ground in the past, having signed on to bipartisan bills on climate, economic, and international issues.
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