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- Senator Lindsey Graham said on Sunday that Trump will be remembered for the Capitol Riot.
- “January 6 was a very bad day for America, and it will have its share of the blame in history,” Graham said.
- The January 6 Capitol riot left at least five people dead, including a police officer.
- Visit Insider’s Business section for more stories.
Senator Lindsey Graham, one of Donald Trump’s most staunch allies, said on Sunday that the Capitol riot would be a defining part of the former president’s legacy.
Trump “is the most popular figure in the Republican Party” and “has had a consistent presidency,” Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, said Sunday on CBS “Face the Nation.” “January 6 was a very bad day for America, and it will have its share of history.”
—Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) February 7, 2021
The January 6 Capitol riot left at least five people dead, including a police officer. Members of the Proud Boys, which is classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, are said to be in attendance.
Organizers were encouraged by Trump’s urges to protest with him against the 2020 election results, despite Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory. As members of Congress gathered inside the Capitol building to certify the results, supporters staged an attempted coup and entered the Capitol building.
Lawmakers were forced to remain locked up as rioters stormed the building.
Graham’s comments come as Trump’s legal team prepares to give a defense for the former president in his second impeachment trial, which begins this week in the Senate.
In January, 10 House Republicans voted to incite insurgency. Senate Republicans, on the other hand, are rallying against the accusation, calling it unconstitutional.
Graham is one of those Republicans.
“At the end of the day, the articles of impeachment, I think, are unconstitutional because the president is in Florida,” Graham said on CBS. “He is not in office. The impeachment of a president requires that the chief justice preside over the trial. He is not on trial because President Trump is not the president. So it is not a process.”
Graham went on to say that he believes the Constitution “is flagrantly violated because, when it comes to Trump, there seems to be no end to it all. So the trial is going to end in a acquittal.”
Still, Graham suggested that Trump was at least partially responsible for the Capitol riot last month, saying he “was going to have a place in history” for it.
The comments mark at least the second time Graham has attributed some of the blame for inciting the Capitol Riot to Trump. The first time came a day after the riot when Graham publicly berated Trump.
“When it comes to accountability, the president needs to understand that his actions were the problem, not the solution,” Graham said at a press conference. The president’s legacy has been “tarnished,” Graham added.
“It breaks my heart that my friend, an important president, allowed yesterday to happen and that will be an important part of his presidency,” he said. “It was a self-inflicted injury.”
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