Sen. Lindsey Graham yelled ‘riot!’ Was it a prediction or a threat?

Last Updated on August 6, 2023, 9:24 PM | Published: August 30, 2022

OPINION — We are now to the point in this vulnerable American democracy where U.S. senators are actively calling for violence if former President Donald Trump is indicted. People who are entrusted with maintaining the security and viability of our government are telling citizens to break the law on behalf of a twice-impeached former leader.

On “Fox News Sunday,” U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina essentially scheduled a civil war as the likelihood of a Trump indictment increased and Trump’s own Truth Social posts became more desperate and unhinged. 

“I’ll say this, if there’s a prosecution of Donald Trump for mishandling classified information, after the Clinton debacle … there’ll be riots in the streets,” Graham said. 

First, there was never any finding of illegality on the part of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton — the only “debacle” was former FBI director James Comey announcing that the bureau was reopening its investigation days before the general election. 

Graham, Trump and other Republicans who made similar statements in person or on social media are essentially calling for armed mobs to go nuts and break stuff on Trump’s behalf. 

If lawmakers are, in fact, endorsing lawlessness, we are in a perilous state. 

Graham is endorsing the destabilization of our nation in defiance of potential actions by the U.S. Department of Justice. This is not just against the law – Graham, a former chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is positioning himself as being against the laws of this nation. 

The Washington Post editorial board called out Graham’s statement as not just a prediction, but a threat. 

“His spokesman defended the interview to The Post as “predicting/forecasting what he thinks will happen,” the editorial board wrote. “But some predictions are also threats. And in this case, giving a forecast on national television might make it more likely that this vision of the future comes to pass. 

“Mr. Trump promptly shared the clip on his platform Truth Social, which he has peppered with myriad ravings about the search of his property of late,” the board continued. “Meanwhile, menacing messages from angry supporters are inundating the National Archives, and one man attempted to attack an FBI facility. The Jan. 6 insurrection showed the country how readily some voters will interpret a leader’s words as a call to arms — and then action.”

Indeed, what Graham did by “predicting” lawless riots gives potential participants in such actions a kind of permission. 

When supposed lawmakers like U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene began to slam the FBI in the wake of the lawful search of Mar-a-Lago for the boxes of classified documents Trump stole from the White House, this was mentally processed by U.S. Navy veteran Ricky Shiffer as tacit permission to attack the FBI offices in Cincinnati. 

Our most unstable lawmakers, like U.S. Sen. Josh “Running Man” Hawley, have not learned any lessons from the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, even as the depths of their actions or inactions were presented during the committee hearings. 

This is “yelling ‘fire!’ in a crowded theater” writ large. Graham deserves to be castigated for his feral words, and in the spirit of finding the truth lurking behind the political rhetoric, his constituents deserve to know why this senator is so willing to debase himself at the feet of Donald Trump.  

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