Transcript: Sen. Lindsey Graham on “Face the Nation,” July 28, 2024

The following is a transcript of an interview with Sen. Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, on “Face the Nation” that aired on July 28, 2024.

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ROBERT COSTA: We now go to Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Good morning, Senator Graham. Let’s start with foreign policy. 

SENATOR LINDSEY GRAHAM: Good morning. 

ROBERT COSTA: It’s a serious time over in Israel. Are you confident, Senator, that US and Lebanese efforts to cool tensions between Israel and Hezbollah will be successful?

SEN. GRAHAM: No, because I think Iran is behind all of this. And until we put Iran on notice that we’re going to hold you accountable for attacks by Hezbollah and Hamas against Israel, you’re going to get more of the same the attack of October the seventh was designed to stop normalization, in my view between Saudi Arabia and Israel. So, until the Iranians believe they’re gonna get hit, that we start putting their oil refineries on a target list. You’re gonna get more of this when it comes to Iran, Biden-Harris had been a colossal failure in terms of controlling the Ayatollah. They’ve enriched him and Israel’s paying the price.

ROBERT COSTA: What do you believe will happen now? Could this conflict spiral and could it open up a second front?

SEN. GRAHAM: Yeah. Yeah, what I worry the most about is a sprint to a nuclear weapon. The Director of National Intelligence gave the Senate a report last week about the status of the Iranian nuclear program and their malign activities, helping their proxies, like Hezbollah and Hamas throughout the Mid East. It was stunning. I am very worried that not only you could open up a second front, but they could use these three or four months before our election to sprint to a nuclear weapon. And we have to put them on notice that cannot happen. 

ROBERT COSTA: Let’s turn to the presidential race. Senator Graham. You just heard from Senator Schumer; he called your colleague in the Senate who’s on- who’s on the ticket Senator JD Vance. He called him weird, and called him extreme and he said, he wonders if your close friend former President Trump’s sitting there this morning, wondering why did I pick this guy, but it’s not just Democrats, Senator, let me show you something from the Wall Street Journal editorial page. We know you read that. They said Senator Vance’s recent comments smack of smart aleck cracks that get laughs and certain right wing male precincts but doesn’t play well with millions of female voters, many of them Republicans. We’re talking about Senator Vance, talking about childless Americans in political leadership in recent days, among other controversial comments. You’re close to former President Trump. Does he in any way regret having Vance on the ticket?

SEN. GRAHAM: No, not at all, because JD Vance has one of the most compelling stories in American politics. When you look at his background, what he overcome early in life to be who he is, he went to Iraq, he didn’t have to, went to Yale Law School, he became a Marine. That’s no small deal. The American First Agenda will be in good hands with JD no matter who the Democrats pick, Vice President Harris picks to be her running mate, they will buy into her agenda. And her agenda is the Green New Deal and Medicare for all. She is the most liberal senator in the United States Senate. And there’s been enough drugs on her watch as border czar Fentanyl to come in through the border to kill everybody in the world. So, the America described by Senator Schumer, where Biden did a great job, is not connecting with the American people. We’re on the wrong track. The American people know it, and JD Vance will help President Trump get us on the right track. And if you’d expect Kamala Harris, the border czar that’s been a miserable failure on that issue to get us back on the right track. It would be a colossal mistake. So, we’re in good shape on the Republican side. Policy matters in this election. If this is a policy election, we win.

ROBERT COSTA: Senator, understand your focus on Vice President Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee, but there are many Americans who do not have children. You’re also not just a senator, you’re a political strategist. You work informally with former President Trump and so many Republicans, you have a political mind. Is it a mistake for Senator Vance to keep talking about Americans who don’t have children when it comes to a national campaign? 

SEN. GRAHAM: Right, right. Yeah, I don’t have children. But I’m going to vote for JD and Trump, because I think we’ll be safer and more prosperous and more secure. I want to end the Biden Harris debacle. Now you should never say anything to hurt anybody’s feelings. But when you look at all these interviews by JD, he was talking about how the Democratic Party has abandoned the traditional family. This election is going to be decided by the American people on who can correct the problems in their lives. And here’s what most Americans are experiencing: having to choose between buying food and gas, a border that is beyond broken, the largest cause of death of young people in America is fentanyl poisoning coming through the broken border and a world on fire. So this idea of trying to marginalize JD and make him some kind of bad person is not going to work because he’s not a bad person. He’s a good person.

ROBERT COSTA: Senator. 

SEN. GRAHAM: He has served his country honorably and it’s gonna help President Trump win.

ROBERT COSTA: Senator, no one’s questioning his character here. We’re just wondering, is it smart politics–

SEN. GRAHAM: They’re not? 

ROBERT COSTA: –Well not here at Face the Nation. Is it smart politics for him to- Is he is he- have the right message to win this election or not? Or would you advise him to adjust his message?

SEN. GRAHAM: His message is I’m going to help President Trump change America, we’re going to secure our border. We’re going to drill for oil and gas that we own and we’re going to set the world right pretty quickly. We’re going to address inflation in a real way. That’s the message of the Trump Vance campaign is to fundamentally change the problems that you’re living with. If you expect Vice President Harris to change the course, we’re on as a nation, you’re going to be sadly disappointed. She is the most liberal senator in the United States, and there is no liberal horse that she has chosen not to ride. She sponsored the Green New Deal and Medicare for all. At the end of the day, recasting her is something she’s not- she’s a nice person, but she’s incredibly liberal. I mean, Major league liberal at a time when we need to reset America, she’s gonna double down on wrong policy choices, and JD Vance and Donald Trump are going to change the course of this country and the world.

ROBERT COSTA: Senator, President Biden is going to be in Austin, Texas tomorrow at the LBJ Library expected to talk about reforming the Supreme Court pushing forward a code of ethics for the Supreme Court. You just heard the Majority Leader endorsed that idea. Where do you stand? Could you work with President Biden yes or no on a Supreme Court reform package this year?

SEN. GRAHAM: No, because he wants to destroy the court. They want to pack the court. They want her to undercut the conservative court. They’ve tried to marginalize the court and destroy the Roberts Court. The Roberts Court has brought constitutional balance back to the court and the liberals in this country want to pack the court. They want to destroy the court. So their initiatives coming from Biden will be dead on arrival in the Senate. They have no desire to make the court better. They’re just trying to make it more liberal.

ROBERT COSTA: What about term limits for Supreme Court justices put aside the issue of packing or adding justice?

SEN. GRAHAM: No, no, no, no, no. It’s worse when- they didn’t complain about any of this when the court was pumping out opinions they liked. Only when we brought constitutional balance back from having a conservative court was the court a threat to the country, what’s been a threat to the country is an out-of-control liberal court issuing opinions that basically take over every phase of American life based on nine people’s judgment. So this Roberts Court has brought constitutional balance back to the country. And one of the issues on the ballot in 2024 is what kind of court do you want? If you left it up to Elizabeth Warren to pick the court, you’d had the most liberal court in the history of the world and Kamala Harris will be right there with her.

ROBERT COSTA: Senator, I want you to listen to this recent comment from former President Trump at a rally.

[BEGIN SOT]

DONALD TRUMP: Christians get out and vote just this time. You won’t have to do it anymore. Four more years. You know what? It’ll be fixed. It’ll be fine. You won’t have to vote anymore. My beautiful Christians. I love you, Christians. I’m not Christian. I love you, get out. You gotta get out and vote. In four years, you won’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good you’re not gonna have to vote. 

[END SOT]

ROBERT COSTA: Senator in just a minute here quickly. Democrats say the former President is trying to take the reins of the entire democratic system here with these comments. You are laughing. What do you believe he’s trying to say? What’s the truth?

SEN. GRAHAM: He’s trying to tell the Christian community and anybody else who’s listening, the nightmare that we’re experiencing will soon be over, give me four more years and I’m gonna ride this ship called America and pass it on to the next generation. We will have democracy, God willing, for a very long time in this country, but what President Trump is trying to tell people, I did it once, I can do it again. These problems can’t be solved–

ROBERT COSTA: Senator Graham.

SEN. GRAHAM: –but you got to go in a different direction. Thank you. 

ROBERT COSTA: Senator Graham we always appreciate your time. Many thanks and we’ll be right back with a lot more Face the Nation stay with us.