Lindsey Graham asks whether Obama will be impeached for Benghazi as he 'never lifted a finger' to help victims
Senator Lindsey Graham questioned the merits of an impeachment against President Donald Trump initiated by House Democrats with just days left before the next administration takes office. During an appearance on Fox News' Hannity on Wednesday, the South Carolina Republican argued against impeaching a president who has already left office. Amidst the heat the impeachment has triggered, Graham raised the possibility of impeaching President Barack Obama for his alleged inaction during the infamous attack on a US consulate in Benghazi in 2012, Breitbart reported.
“We’ll play this out,” he explained. “We impeach the president today without any evidence. It’s just sheer hatred. If this becomes the norm, be careful what you wish for today. Under this theory, the radical left — if you can impeach a president after they’re out of office, why don’t we impeach George Washington? He owned slaves. Where does this stop? So, to my Republican colleagues, let’s stand firm for the idea — whether you like Donald Trump or not, he’s not above the law.”
“If he did something wrong, you know, you can face the consequences of the law,” Graham continued. “Impeachment is political. What we’re doing here is we’re impeaching the president without any evidence, without any witnesses, and we’re going to have a trial after they are out of office. How do you survive as a president in the future? This will be an attack on the presidency in perpetuity."
"Should we impeach Barack Obama because, for 24 hours, he never lifted a finger to help those people under siege in Benghazi? Where does this stop?” he added.
Trump became the only incumbent in history to get impeached twice as the House of Representatives on Wednesday, January 13, voted 232-197 to impeach him for “incitement of insurrection." The impeachment came exactly a week after the violence at Capitol Hill, for which Democrats are holding Trump directly responsible.
Ten Republicans also joined the Democratic majority impeaching Trump, who faced a similar experience in December 2019 on charges of misuse of office and obstructing the Congress over a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky about President-elect Joe Biden.
Graham, the chair of the Senate judiciary committee, on Wednesday indirectly slammed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other GOP leaders as the House debated the impeachment of Trump for the second time. “The last thing the country needs is an impeachment trial of a president who is leaving office in one week," he said in a statement.
Graham, who has previously been a strong ally of Trump but spoke out critically in wake of the Capitol Hill riots cautioned that another impeachment trial “could invite further violence” and targeted Democrats for trying to do a “do-over impeachment."
“The House impeachment process seeks to legitimize a snap impeachment totally void of due process. No hearings. No witnesses. It is a rushed process that, over time, will become a threat to future presidents. As to Senate leadership, I fear they are making the problem worse, not better,” the 65-year-old South Carolina senator stated, taking an indirect dig at McConnell.
“Supporting the impeachment of President Trump under these circumstances will do great damage to the institutions of government and could invite further violence at a time the President is calling for calm. If there was a time for America's political leaders to bend a knee and ask for God's counsel and guidance, it is now. The most important thing for leaders to do in times of crisis is to make things better, not worse," Graham added.