According to audio obtained by New York Times reporters Alexander Burns and Jonathan Martin, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said President Joe Biden was the “best person to have” leading the country after a mob of former President Donald Trump’s attacked the United States Capitol on the false premise that the 2020 general election was stolen.
“We’ll actually come out of this thing stronger. Moments like this reset. People will calm down. People will say, ‘I don’t want to be associated with that,’” Graham says in the audio clip. “This is a group within a group. What this does, there will be a rallying effect for a while, the country says, ‘We’re better than this.’”
Martin can be heard asking Graham, “Biden will help with that?” to which Graham replies, “Totally, he’ll be maybe the best person to have, right. I mean, how mad can you get at Joe Biden?”
Burns and Martin report on the audio in their new book, “This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America’s Future.”
Graham has in the past sparred with former President Trump over his Capitol riot narrative.
Earlier this year, Trump attacked Graham, saying Graham is “wrong” to say that pardoning individuals who participated in the January 6 insurrection was “inappropriate.”
“You talked about the potential, if it’s appropriate, of pardoning some of the January 6ers,” Newsmax’s Rob Schmitt asked Trump in an interview. “Lindsey Graham said a couple days later, he thinks that’s inappropriate. What do you think?”
Trump called Graham a “RINO,” the acronym for “Republican in Name Only,” which he has used to brand Republican critics of his behavior.
“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.”
Alan is a writer, editor, and news junkie based in New York.