Lindsey Graham offered to rein in pro-Trump Republican candidates who question the integrity of the 2020 election if Bernie Sanders would do the same regarding anti-police Democrats going forward.
The proposed compromise came about as the two Senators engaged in a debate as part of The Senate Project on Fox Nation.
Socialist Sanders (I-VT), during one exchange, started hammering Graham for his association with and promotion of Republicans who side with former President Donald Trump in questioning the legitimacy of the last presidential election.
“We have a former President whose name is Donald Trump. Goes around the country telling people, ‘Hey, I won the election. In fact, I probably won it by a landslide but they – they stole it. They took it away from me,’” Sanders argued.
“Now, that happens to be what we call a big lie,” added the socialist curmudgeon. He later lamented that the so-called ‘big lie’ casts doubt on the “entire system” and suggested it represents a slide to “authoritarianism.”
At a debate today, Lindsey Graham laughed off a warning from Bernie Sanders about the danger of “authoritarianism” brought on by Trump’s “Big Lie.” pic.twitter.com/pDzNhhW3K6
— David Edwards (@DavidEdwards) June 13, 2022
RELATED: New White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre Claimed the 2016 and 2018 Elections Were ‘Stolen’
Lindsey Graham Compromises With Bernie Sanders
Lindsey Graham took the bait from Bernie Sanders and offered to rein in pro-Trump Republicans who cast doubt on the 2020 election.
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Graham (R-SC) insisted he “voted to certify the election” and, despite there being “some mail balloting chicanery” declared that Biden won the election.
“But what about all of the candidates out there who are trying to say that he didn’t?” Sanders chimed in. “Your Republican candidates you want people to vote for?”
“Well, I, you know … what about the people saying defund the police? You talk to them, I talk to that crowd,” Graham replied.
Sen. Bernie Sanders says he never called for defunding the police.
FOLLOW LIVE: @BretBaier moderates @LindseyGrahamSC and @SenSanders debate on @foxnation https://t.co/5gaia8MoGj pic.twitter.com/Ocb313Hem6
— Fox News Politics (@foxnewspolitics) June 13, 2022
RELATED: Marjorie Taylor Greene Demolishes Lindsey Graham For Helping Democrats On Gun Control
Bernie’s Own Big Lie
Bernie Sanders responded to Lindsey Graham by saying, “But your crowd is a lot larger than my crowd.”
This is a statement that underscores Graham’s fumble in going the false equivalency route. He didn’t have to compare ‘defund the police’ Democrats to Republicans who call into question election results. No, that’s a whole different segment of extremists on the left.
Graham simply had to challenge Sanders to denounce Democrats who … have questioned election results.
Like White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre who said the 2016 presidential election was “stolen.”
Stolen emails, stolen drone, stolen election …..welcome to the world of #unpresidented Trump https://t.co/NI7vqPV6cu
— Karine Jean-Pierre (@K_JeanPierre) December 18, 2016
Trump’s opponent in the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton, spent years claiming the election was stolen from her by the Russians and anybody else she could point a finger at.
“I was the candidate that they basically stole an election from,” she said.
Hillary tells @karaswisher “So there is an air of illegitimacy that surrounds Trump’s presidency, and that just infuriates them….Because I was the candidate that they basically stole an election from.” https://t.co/NovSU9xxyo
— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) October 26, 2020
Jean-Pierre’s boss, President Biden, cast his own doubts, agreeing with a woman at a campaign rally who said Trump was an “illegitimate president in my mind.”
“I absolutely agree,” Biden replied.
Former President Jimmy Carter believed Trump lost saying, “I think a full investigation would show that Trump didn’t actually win the election in 2016.”
Former President Jimmy Carter: If fully investigated, it would show that Trump didn’t actually win the election in 2016. He lost the election and he was put in office because the Russians interfered …on his behalf.
???? https://t.co/CYSBIK3qHF pic.twitter.com/o71Z4InVxB— CSPAN (@cspan) June 28, 2019
Democrats, in fact, objected to the election results in 2016 officially and during the proceedings certifying electoral votes 11 separate times.
Lead impeachment manager Jamie Raskin objected to Florida’s electoral votes in 2017. pic.twitter.com/FsLvJLvA8v
— Phil Kerpen (@kerpen) January 13, 2021
So many ‘big lies’ right there.
And Lindsey Graham didn’t even need to bring up all those Democrat election deniers. He could have just challenged Bernie Sanders himself in the debate.
Sanders, you see, claimed the 2016 nomination was stolen from him by a system “rigged” to favor Clinton. Well, he used the ‘some people are saying’ play.
When asked if he would commit to supporting Hillary in 2016, Sanders replied: “Some people say that maybe if the system was not rigged against me, I would have won the nomination.”
WATCH: @kasie presses Sen. Sanders on whether he would leave the race before the DNC if it became clear that he would not be the Democratic nominee. pic.twitter.com/vZA3gh2srY
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) June 26, 2019
Democrats, dating back to Al Gore’s refusal to accept defeat in 2000, have been the party of election skepticism. They haven’t suddenly turned a corner.
And they don’t get to play the ‘big lie’ card just because they think voters are too stupid to remember what they have done over the years.
Republicans like Graham need to stop playing defense on this and point to how Democrats were discrediting elections long before Donald Trump ever did.
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