WHY HAS LINDSAY GRAHAM BEEN “JECKYLL / HYDE” ABOUT PRESIDENT TRUMP?

…South Carolina Senator, Lindsay Graham

Senator Graham once said that Donald Trump was: “Not fit to be the US President.”

Have you noticed how many of Washington’s op-ed writers are scratching their heads about whatever happened to the Senator Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) that they once knew...?

Graham has gone from calling the president a “kook”, and at one time before the 2016 election he said: “You know how to make America great again? Tell Donald Trump to go to hell.” Or, when he said: “If Trump were to win, the Islamic State would be dancing in the streets, and they don’t believe in dancing.”

However, there is today’s Lindsay Graham’s with his fiery attack against the Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee that were attacking Brett M. Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearings, which Graham called an “unethical sham.”  He then followed that up by calling Kavanaugh’s accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, of being sexually attacked by Kavanaugh, “batsxxt-crazy.”  

It must be noted that was also a term Graham had previously used to describe the GOP for its support of Donald J. Trump…?

So, what did Washington’s opinion writers think about this “Jeckyll / Hyde” attitude from Graham towards President Trump?  If you posed this question to these same people on Capitol Hill, you might hear them say, “Aw, that’s just Lindsey. He’s in his cycle.”

If you think that this means that Graham’s changes are due to Lindsay’s gland secretions, well, you’d be wrong.  What “cycle” means here is of course, that Graham is up for reelection in 2020.  When you’re from one of the "Reddest states" in the union, you’d better cheer for the Man from MAGA or risk losing your Senate position in 2020.

It isn’t unusual for some politicians to change their language style, just to soften, or to toughen, their rhetoric as their audience changes.  Still, it’s comical about Graham’s toughening stances and head-snapping reversals.  It’s as though his body had been occupied by someone else, because he’s no longer just John McCain’s wingman. He has now become the “Maverick”.

Whatever else he is, Graham has always known how to play the media and keep himself in the headlines.  This may explain his recent change toward the president.  Actually, the change goes back to a lunch with Trump back in March 2017 when the two found common ground  in an affection for playing golf.  They are also both showmen, and in that, they may share some mutual respect.  Both love to be center stage, and they both seem to have a similar knack for giving most people what they want.

Let’s face it, it’s hard to not appreciate Senator Graham.  He really is a good person and as some have said, he would give you the “shirt off his back if he felt you needed it”.

Graham, early on had a hard life, and after he lost both of his parents when he was in college, he then had to raise and care for his 13 year old sister.

He is also a real patriot who served in the Air Force, Judge Advocate General’s Corps (JAG) and then the Air Force Reserve, as a lawyer.  He then became an elected, South Carolina congressman, and finally on to the US Senate.

Graham was a very funny candidate during the 2016 Republican presidential campaign debates, up until he finally dropped out of the race.

But Graham is not as funny today.

Graham has become a somewhat fanatic for The Wall along the southern border.  He has actually even advised the president to invoke the national-emergency powers to fund it.  He has gone from the “Little Jerk,” name , which was McCain’s affectionate nickname for Graham, to the lead Border Wall supporter in just a few short months.  No longer is Trump the  “kook”, that Graham had labeled Trump, or as Lindsay had said that Trump was the, “guy that was not fit to be president.”

My, my, my, how things have changed.

But the night is young, and today the news breaks change 24/7.  If the Robert Mueller III investigation doesn’t get rid of the Trumpster, we will have nearly two more years to wonder what Graham will say, hiss, spit, growl, whisper or sing, as his “cycle” continues.

Copyright G. Ater 2019