I want you to use my words against me, Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, said bluntly in 2016. If theres a Republican president in 2016 and a vacancy occurs in the last year of the first term, you can say Lindsey Graham said lets let the next president, whoever it might be, make that nomination.
His scenario came true: A Republican did win the 2016 presidential election, and a vacancy did just occur in the last year of his first term.
But Mr. Graham, who oversees the Senate Judiciary Committee and would preside over any confirmation hearing, now says he sees no reason to wait for the next president.
And that has led others including the challenger for Mr. Grahams Senate seat and The Lincoln Project, a super PAC supported by Republicans critical of Mr. Trump to take Mr. Graham up on his call to use his words against him. The Lincoln Project shared a new ad on Twitter, adding: Lindsey said he wants us to use his words against him. Ok, done.
The ad includes video of Mr. Graham making his statements.
Mr. Graham, a loyal Trump ally who is locked in a tight race against Jaime Harrison in South Carolina, cited the Democrats decision to eliminate the 60-vote threshold for most judicial nominees as a reason he had changed his position though they made that change in 2013, long before he spoke out against a president filling a vacancy in the last year of a term.
He also argued that Chuck Schumer and his friends in the liberal media conspired to destroy the life of Brett Kavanaugh and hold that Supreme Court seat open.
It was a stark departure from his previous assertions, which began in 2016 and continued into 2018, even after most of the hearings to confirm Brett M. Kavanaugh to the nations highest court had taken place.read more
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