Senator Lindsey Graham (R) took the stage on Saturday at a donald trump rally in his home state of South Carolina to massive boos from the crowd.
Graham tried to start speaking above the jeers, which partially drowned out his comments in support of the former president’s bid for a second term.
Some called Graham a traitor, according to a CNN reporter In the scene.
Trump then offered a half-hearted defense of the senator.
“You know, you can make mistakes from time to time. Even Lindsey here, Senator Lindsey Graham. We love Senator Graham,” Trump said, drawing another round of boos.
“I know, it’s half and half,” Trump told the crowd. “But when I need some of those liberal votes, he’s always there to help me get them, okay? We have some pretty liberal people, but he’s good.”
In April, Trump mocked Graham as a “progressive” at a fundraiser in New Hampshire, inspiring boos from the crowd there as well.
Graham was a staunch ally of Trump for most of his presidency, but no parrot Trump’s false claim that the 2020 election had been rigged, prompting Trump to shut down a declaration in 2021 saying that Graham should be “ashamed” of himself. graham too Angry Trump supporters when he spoke harshly about Trump’s role in mobilizing the angry mob that stormed the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Attendees at the demonstration on Saturday told the Greenville newsa South Carolina newspaper, that they had grown tired of Graham.
William Billew, 74, told the newspaper that he thought the senator was unreliable and did not like his “indecision.”
During his two decades representing South Carolina in Washington, Graham has built a reputation as a fickle ally to his fellow Republicans.