Lindsey Graham Quotes (1955-)

Politician

About Lindsey Graham

Lindsey Olin Graham (born 9 July 1955) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from South Carolina, a seat he has held since 2003. A member of the Republican Party, Graham served as chairman of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary from 2019 to 2021.

Best Lindsey Graham Quotes

Shortest
Earliest

Explore our curated collection of the most famous and impactful Lindsey Graham quotes.

“It’s like [choosing between] being shot or poisoned.”
“Embracing Donald Trump is embracing demographic death.”
“There are bad people in this world who are motivated by hate.”
Lindsey Graham
“[Military assistance to Ukraine] The best money we’ve ever spent.”
Lindsey Graham
“If we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed... and we will deserve it.”
“I am running (for president) because I think the world is falling apart.”
Lindsey Graham
“We have never seen more threats against our nation and its citizens than we do today.”
“If you killed Ted Cruz on the floor of the Senate, and the trial was in the Senate, nobody could convict you.”
“As a party, we are better to risk losing without Donald Trump than trying to win with him. Enough already with Mister Trump.”
“"Everything I know about the Iranians I learned at the pool room," [Graham] said. "I met a lot of liars, and I know the Iranians are lying."”
“I'm not a libertarian. If you are, you're welcome to vote for me and help this party, but we're not gonna build the party around libertarian ideas.”
Lindsey Graham
“If there’s a prosecution of Donald Trump for mishandling classified information, after the Clinton debacle … there’ll be riots in the streets.”
Lindsey Graham
“Our government has a responsibility to defend our borders, but we must do so in a way that makes us safer and upholds all that is decent and exceptional about our nation.”
Lindsey Graham
“Here’s an offer to my Russian ‘friends’ who want to arrest and try me for calling out the Putin regime as being war criminals: I will submit to jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court if you do.”
Lindsey Graham
“What are you doing? Take back the Senate!
You've got guns. Use them. We give you guns for a reason, use them.
Lethal force should have been used.
How come you didn't protect us? It's doing your job.”
“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.”
“It is a sad day for the Supreme Court and a dangerous day for the Rule of Law. The radical assault on our institutions and the Constitution itself has reached a new level with the release of a draft opinion on a major issue facing the Court”
“They just need weapons to free their country of a terrible invasion. They're sitting on a trillion dollars' worth of minerals that could be good to our economy. So I want to keep helping our friends in Ukraine. We can win this. They need our help.”
Lindsey Graham
“And here's the first thing I would do if I were president of the United States. I wouldn't let Congress leave town until we fix this. I would literally use the military to keep them in if I had to. We're not leaving town until we restore these defense cuts. We are not leaving town until we restore the intel cuts.”
“Finally, a president willing to take on this absurd policy of birthright citizenship.
I’ve always supported comprehensive immigration reform – and at the same time – the elimination of birthright citizenship.
In addition, I plan to introduce legislation along the same lines as the proposed executive order from President”
Lindsey Graham
“I can't explain this. I don't know what would make a young man at 21 get so sick and twisted to kill nine people in a church; this is beyond my understanding... There are real people out there who are organized to kill people in religion and based on race. But it's 2015 there are people out there looking for Christians to kill them. So this is a mean time we live in.”
Lindsey Graham
“I want you to use my words against me. If there’s a Republican president in 2016 and a vacancy [on the United States Supreme Court] occurs in the last year of the first term, you can say, “Lindsey Graham said, ‘Let’s let the next president, whoever it might be, make that nomination,’” and you could use my words against me, and you’d be absolutely right.”
Lindsey Graham
“I am trying to give a pretty clear signal I have made up my mind. I'm not trying to pretend to be a fair juror here. 'I'm not trying to pretend to be a fair juror here': Graham predicts Trump impeachment will 'die quickly' in Senate, December 14, 2019”
“Let's just get to the political heart of the matter, No matter what you want to call it, beyond border enforcement, a lot of people, particularly on our side, don't want to have a debate about this. Even if you debate it, you're wrong. Even if you're open-minded about compromise, you're wrong. It's a very simple answer to a complex problem. Send them all back. End of discussion, end of debate. Now that to me is not a realistic approach to a real problem.”
Lindsey Graham
“To young people out there, young people of color, young immigrants, this is a great state, but one thing I can say without any doubt, you can be an African American and go to the Senate but you just have to share our values. If you’re a young, African American or an immigrant, you can go anywhere in this state, you just need to be conservative, not liberal. Graham debating Jamie Harrison in Columbia, South Carolina”

Lindsey Graham Quotes by Topic

Find exactly what you are looking for by browsing this categorized list of Lindsey Graham quotes by topic.

Lindsey Graham on Gaza war 2 quotes

“Do whatever the hell you have to do to defend yourself. Level the place.”
View all 2 quotes on Gaza war →

Lindsey Graham on Supreme Court of the United States 2 quotes

“I will support President*ealDonaldTrump in any effort to move forward regarding the recent vacancy created by the passing of Justice Ginsburg.”
Lindsey Graham
View all 2 quotes on Supreme Court of the United States →

Lindsey Graham on Iran

“Everything I learned about Iranians, I learned working in the pool room. I met a lot of liars, and I know Iranians are liars.”
Lindsey Graham

Lindsey Graham on Terrorism

“There are real people out there who are organized to kill people in religion and based on race. But it's 2015 there are people out there looking for Christians to kill them. So this is a mean time we live in.”
Lindsey Graham

Lindsey Graham on Israeli–Palestinian conflict

“I know the difference between the world as we wish it to be and the world as it is. The world as it is, is a divided Palestinian people, a place that allows rockets to be launched from apartment buildings, a place for a mosques are weapon storage sites, a place where school children are taught hate -- that's the world as it is.”
Lindsey Graham

Lindsey Graham on 2021 United States Capitol attack

“I was in the Capitol on January 6 and know it was one of the darkest days in American history. I stand with the police officers who protect our streets, federal courthouses, and the United States Capitol against rioters. They deserve our respect and support and I will not second-guess the decisions they made under dire circumstances.”
Lindsey Graham

What Lindsey Graham Said About Others

Discover personal opinions Lindsey Graham shared regarding contemporaries.

Lindsey Graham on Donald Trump 2 quotes

“If we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed.......and we will deserve it.”
Lindsey Graham
View all 2 quotes on Donald Trump →

Lindsey Graham on Ted Cruz

“I want to apologize to Ted for saying he should be killed on the Senate floor.”
Lindsey Graham

Lindsey Graham on Mehmet Oz

“It’s a good sign for the Republican Party that somebody of his standing and stature would want to run under the Republican banner.”
Lindsey Graham

Lindsey Graham on Hillary Clinton

“I think she’s represented our nation well. She is extremely well respected throughout the world, handles herself in a very classy way and has a work ethic second to none.”
Lindsey Graham

Lindsey Graham on Glenn Beck

“Only in America can you make that much money crying. Glenn Beck is not aligned with any party. He is aligned with cynicism and there has always been a market for cynics. But we became a great nation not because we are a nation of cynics. We became a great nation because we are a nation of believers.”
Lindsey Graham

Lindsey Graham on Ruth Bader Ginsburg

“Well, there are all kind of hearts. There are bleeding hearts and there are hard hearts. And if I wanted to judge Justice Ginsburg on her heart, I might take a hard-hearted view of her and say she’s a bleeding heart. She represents the ACLU. She wants the age of consent to be 12. She believes there’s a constitutional right to prostitution. What kind of heart is that?”
Lindsey Graham

Quotes About Lindsey Graham

Gain deeper perspective through quotes about Lindsey Graham from others.

Jamelle Bouie on Lindsey Graham

“The reason to condemn Trump and Graham for their “lynching” remarks is not to score a partisan point or because it will make a difference in their language or behavior. It’s because we haven’t actually resolved the trauma of the past. Historical spaces are still contested. The scars are still present.”
Lindsey Graham

Robert Golan-Vilella on Lindsey Graham

“This is deeply misleading at best and laughably false at worst. You could, I suppose, defend Graham’s assertion by saying that we face a greater number of threats than we have in the past. But it makes very little sense in a country that, among other things, has seen its own White House burned down, fought a bloody civil war and two world wars, and survived several close brushes with apocalyptic thermonuclear war during the Cold War.”

Trita Parsi on Lindsey Graham

“The Senator's repulsive remarks are racist, period. This type of discourse should have no place in American politics... Graham essentially admits to being a bigot, because nothing says 'I'm stereotyping' more than basing judgment of an entire people solely on a handful of interactions in a pool room... Graham's racist statement raises concerns about his ability to speak on vital national security matters such as the nuclear negotiations with Iran. Because if you judge an entire people based on your experience running a pool hall-liquor store, do you really have the judgment to keep America safe? This is Graham's 'I can see Russia from my house' moment... Senator Graham owes the Iranian-American community, one of the most successful communities in the United States, an apology. And all others presidential hopefuls,Republicans and Democrats, should condemn his bigoted comments.”

Mark Sanford according on Lindsey Graham

“I would use him as a canary in the coalmine and the degree to which he has doubled, tripled and quadrupled down on Trump says everything. Whether you like him or not, he has a good political nose for his base. He knows South Carolina well and his reading the tea leaves is not to be dismissed.”

George Will on Lindsey Graham

“Trump’s normally loquacious rivals are swaggeringly eager to confront Vladimir Putin, but are too invertebrate — Lindsey Graham is an honorable exception — to voice robust disgust with Trump and the spirit of, the police measures necessary for, and the cruelties that would accompany, his policy.”
Lindsey Graham

Bob Woodward on Lindsey Graham 2 quotes

“Trump seemed to love the adulation but said to Graham, "You're a middle-of-the-road guy. I want you to be 100 percent for Trump." This resembled the loyalty pledge that then FBI director James Comey said that Trump had asked of him. According to Comey, Trump had said, "I need loyalty. I expect loyalty," during their now famous one-on-one Green Room dinner in the White House during the first week of the Trump presidency. "Okay, what's the issue?" Graham asked, "and I'll tell you whether I'm 100 percent for you or not." "You're like 82 percent," Trump said. "Well, some days I'm 100 percent. Some days I may be zero." "I want you to be a 100 percent guy." "Why would you want me to tell you you're right when I think you're wrong? What good does that do for you or me?" Graham asked. "Presidents need people that can tell them the truth as they see it. It's up to you to see if I'm full of shit."”
Lindsey Graham
View all 2 quotes on Bob Woodward →

Former president Donald Trump on Lindsey Graham

“I blame myself for Lindsey Graham, because the only reason he won in the Great State of South Carolina is because I Endorsed him!”

About Lindsey Graham

Lindsey Olin Graham (born 9 July 1955) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from South Carolina, a seat he has held since 2003. A member of the Republican Party, Graham served as chairman of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary from 2019 to 2021.