Sen. Graham Uses Language We Won't Print

And more around the Sunday dial
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 30, 2018 2:45 PM CST
Graham: 'That's a Bunch of...'
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks to reporters at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018.   (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Dana Bash's eyes widened in shock, and it's little wonder. Interviewing Sen. Lindsey Graham on CNN's State of the Union, the host asked whether President Trump would be at fault if the Syria troop pullout ended up empowering ISIS. "Everything we're dealing with today falls on Obama's watch," says Graham, R-SC, per AOL. "He's the one who withdrew from Iraq." Bash asks, "But he did it because there was a Status of Forces Agreement in Iraq, right?" At which point Graham lets it fly: "Listen. No, that's a bunch of bulls***. Pardon my French. That's a complete lie. That's a complete, absolute lie." Cue the eye-widening: "That didn't happen?" asks Bash. Mediate reminds us that the Status of Forces Agreement, established by former President George W. Bush, committed to a full pullout of US forces in Iraq by 2011. For more Sunday talk:

  • More Graham: "I'm going to talk to him at lunch," he says of persuading Trump to reconsider the Syria pullout, per the Hill. "...We're fighting a war against ISIS. They're still not defeated in Syria."

  • Political hostages? "Yes, we need comprehensive immigration reform," says Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-NY, on ABC's This Week, per Politico. "Yes, we need to enhance border security. But we are not willing to pay $2.5 billion or $5 billion and wasting taxpayer dollars on a ransom note because Donald Trump decided that he was going to shut down the government and hold the American people hostage."
  • Honesty: "I don't think he tells the truth," retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal says on This Week about Trump, per NBC News. Asked if the president immoral, he says: "I think he is."
  • Vacation put-down: "Nancy Pelosi needs to come back from Hawaii," says Kellyanne Conway on Fox News Sunday, per the New York Post. "Less hula, more moola for the [Department of Homeland Security] and Customs and Border Patrol, funding our border security." Reports have emerged of Pelosi's vacation at a fancy Hawaiian resort.
  • Migrant deaths: "I think it's everybody's fault. This is unacceptable," says Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., about the deaths of two migrant children on CBS' Face the Nation, per the Hill. "And the bottom line is that if we're able to get comprehensive immigration reform done ... then I think we will see things settle down on the southern border in a big, big way."
  • Climate change: "I would say, he is very convinced of his position," says California Gov. Jerry Brown on NBC's Meet the Press about Trump's views on climate change, per Politico. "And his position is that there's nothing abnormal about the fires in California or the rising sea level or all the other incidents of climate change."
(Meanwhile, John Kelly is turning heads with this surprising exit interview.)

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