āI want you to use my words against me. If thereās a Republican president in 2016 and a vacancy occurs in the last year of the first term, you can say Lindsey Graham said, āLetās let the next president, whoever it might be, make that nomination.'ā
Those were the words of Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsay Graham back in 2016 when the South Carolina senator was part of a Republican majority in the Senate who wouldnāt even hold a vote for Judge Merrick Garland.
In fact, Garland couldnāt even get confirmation hearings from the Republican controlled Senate who believed that the American people should have a say in who the next Supreme Court justice should be given Obama was in the final months of his tenure as president.
Fast forward to today and Graham has pulled a complete 180 saying that despite his past comments he āwill support President Donald Trump in any effort to move forward regarding the recent vacancy created by the passing of Justice Ginsburg.ā
And with Grahamās hypocrisy, the American people are holding the Senator to his words as a number of individuals with the Shut Down D.C. coalition armed with drums and airhorns arrived at Grahamās D.C. residence to give the Chairman of the Senate judiciary committee a āwake up callā.
In a statement from the Sunrise D.C. chapter, organizer Aura Angelica said
āin the spirit of RBG, we will not allow a double standard in how our Congress deals with late-term Supreme Court appointments.ā
Angelica continued, āSenator Graham told us he wouldnāt allow a Supreme Court nominee during an election yearāhe told us to use his words against him if a seat opened up this late in the gameāweāre here today, doing just thatā.