The following is a transcript of an interview with Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, which aired on Sunday, February 7, 2021, on ‘Face the Nation’.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We now want to go to Senator Lindsey Graham in Clemson, South Carolina. Good morning to you, senator.
SENATOR LINDSEY GRAHAM: Good morning. Thank you for having me.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Iran has threatened to kick out UN inspectors within the next three weeks if sanctions are not lifted. You heard the president. Where do you think the deadlock is going from here?
SEN. GRAHAM: Well, the Trump administration put Iran in a box. As a result, you have four or five Arab countries entering into peace agreements with Israel. I think Iran is weaker today than it has been since the beginning of the regime some 40 years ago. So if I were President Biden, I would continue the sanctions until Iran changed its behavior. I would not want to enter into an old agreement with Iran because they have not done anything for too long. So he is going to have three problems here: what is different with Iran than Trump, what to do with China other than Trump and how to change Trump’s immigration policy without making a turn at the border? I would warn President Biden that Trump did this does not mean it is wrong. So I will delay if I am President Biden, and reevaluate some of these Trump policies and keep them in place if they make sense.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You’ve known the Biden family for years. Have you talked to the president since the inauguration?
SEN. GRAHAM: No, I have not. Congratulations to him. He is the legal president. I spoke to Secretary Blinken two days ago. I am very pleased with what the Biden government is proposing for Afghanistan. We’re going to keep the troops there according to a conditions-based approach. The Afghan study group –
MARGARET BRENNAN: Last May?
SEN. GRAHAM: – came out with a good – say again?
MARGARET BRENNAN: Last May, then, will the Trump agreement require it to be based on conditions?
SEN. GRAHAM: I think it is – I think it was, yes, I think we are not going to leave in May. We’re leaving if the conditions are right. The Taliban were deceived. They do not comply. And so I like what Tony Blinken and the Biden administration are doing. They are reevaluating our presence in Afghanistan to keep the footprint low, but not to walk away and lose all the gains we have made. If we leave too early without a conditional withdrawal, ISIS and Al Qaeda will return roaring. Women are going to suffer a lot. So I’m in a good place in Afghanistan. When it comes to Iran, I want to warn the government of Biden to go back to the Iranian agreement. There is a suggestion by myself and Senator Menendez that the Iranians can have all the nuclear power they want. They just can not enrich. And I think Arabs would sign up for the deal, which would be a good deal for the world.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, we’ll keep up to date with what the policy is. I want to ask you about what is happening here at home with the scheduled trial that would begin on Tuesday of former President Donald Trump. You voted against holding the trial, but you said it the morning after the siege of the Capitol.
(BEGIN CLIP)
SEN. GRAHAM: As far as accountability is concerned, the president needs to understand that his actions were the problem, not the solution, that the protest was insignificant yesterday. It got out of hand. It breaks my heart that my friend, a president of the consequences, would allow yesterday. And that will be a big part of his presidency. It was a self-inflicted wound. It’s going too far.
(END CLIP)
MARGARET BRENNAN: What has changed?
SEN. GRAHAM: Well, it’s not a crime. I mean, the House accuses him under the theory that his speech caused a riot. If you look at the facts, many people have already planned to attack the Capitol before he ever spoke.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, the hearing memorandum of the–
SEN. GRAHAM: The president said during the protest that I think was–
MARGARET BRENNAN: The hearing memorandum of the home managers lays down a pattern of behavior. They say it was not just the speech. They say it has been cultivated over time.
SEN. GRAHAM: Yes, that’s what I would say: if you believe you have committed a crime, he can be prosecuted like any other citizen. Accusation is a political process. We have never charged a president once they were not in office. I think this is a very bad idea. Forty-five plus Republicans are going to vote early on that it is unconstitutional. It is not the question of how the trial will end. It’s a question when it ends. Republicans are going to consider it an unconstitutional exercise. And the only question is, will they call witnesses? How long does the trial take? But the outcome is really not in doubt. That does not mean it happened on January 6th. This means that in the eyes of most Republicans, this accusation is an unconstitutional exercise.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Reg.
SEN. GRAHAM: The president’s behavior is not a crime in my opinion, but he can be charged with one if people think he committed it because he is now a private citizen.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, some Republicans, your colleague Pat Toomey, a Republican, believe it’s constitutional since the president was charged while he was still in office. But, you know, people can look at this and say, look, if you can not argue a case based on its merits, then you’re arguing about the process. And that’s what Republicans are doing now. Because I want to ask you to make it clear. You said that on January 7th about Mike Pence.
(BEGIN CLIP)
SEN. GRAHAM: The things he was – he was asked to do in the name of loyalty – were excessive, unconstitutional, illegal and would have been wrong for the country.
(END CLIP)
MARGARET BRENNAN: Unconstitutional and illegal sounds a lot like high crimes and transgressions.
SEN. GRAHAM: Yes, he was not charged. The bottom line is that the articles on accusation are unconstitutional because the president is in Florida. He’s not in the office. The indictment of a president requires the chief justice to preside over the trial. He’s not at the trial because President Trump is not the president. It is therefore not a process. I think the Constitution is being violently violated because there seems to be no end to Trump. The trial will therefore lead to acquittal. Most Republicans, I do not know what Senator Toomey is going to do, are going to consider it unconstitutional and the president’s behavior is not incitement under the law. And the longer it takes, the worse it gets for the country, I believe.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You said that if the president commits a crime, he should be charged. Do you think that any of the actions of the president, the tweets asking for the rally, the language that led to the rally, the lie to the public about the ability to overthrow the election, that you described, he said about Mike Pence, does any of it deserve a reprimand?
SEN. GRAHAM: Well, I mean, he’s going to have a place in history for all of this, but the point of the matter is that we’re in Congress. We are not prosecutors. Accusation is never meant to be a prosecution.
MARGARET BRENNAN: All right, but you’re in charge of the Department of Justice.
SEN. GRAHAM: We do not do calculators.
MARGARET BRENNAN: What do you think?
SEN. GRAHAM: Yeah, I think I’m ready to go. I’m ready to end the indictment because I think it’s unconstitutional. I am ready to solve the problems of the country. And as for Donald Trump, he is the most popular figure in the Republican Party. He had a consequent presidency. January 6th was a very bad day for America, and he will get his blame in history. But I do believe that the Republican Party will roar in 2022 because our friends from the Democratic Party – from the Democratic side, will change the immigration policy to have a caravan after the caravan hit our borders.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Do you still believe he’s the head of the Republican Party?
SEN. GRAHAM: They are going to increase our taxes, and they will weaken us across the board. Excuse me again? I am sorry.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Do you still believe that President Trump is the best face for the Republican Party? Yes or no?
SEN. GRAHAM: I think he is – I think he is the – yes, I think, yes. I think – I think Donald Trump’s policies have served the country well. I think Donald Trump needs to rehabilitate–
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.
SEN. GRAHAM: – himself as a politician. But here’s what I think. I think–
MARGARET BRENNAN: Wait–
SEN. GRAHAM: – most Americans go watch –
MARGARET BRENNAN: Senator–
SEN. GRAHAM: – at the Biden Administration and –
MARGARET BRENNAN: I’m sorry, but we’re too late.
SEN. GRAHAM: I’m sorry, go ahead.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I’m sorry to–
SEN. GRAHAM: All right.
MARGARET BRENNAN: – cut you off, I have to take us to a trading holiday. Thank you for your time this morning. Stay with us.