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Lindsey Graham has always shown a gift for public engagement. It has been an important part of his political career.
Despite the perception that he parroted whatever his audience wanted to hear, Graham negated the label that he was nothing but a Republican in Name Only (RINO).
Graham shot back at the ridicule and hypocrisy leveled at the then-Supreme Court nominee, now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh. This was the onset of a wave of popularity he garnered from his ardent support for President Trump. Lindsey Graham shed the label of RINO.
During the later months of President Trump’s term as the 45th President, and throughout the tumultuous time since Joe Biden took office, Graham has been a staunch voice for conservatives. However, at a Summerville County, South Carolina fundraiser, he made a rather misguided comment.
Graham was speaking at the Summerville Country Club in Dorchester. He began a segment calmly saying that if anyone in attendance hadn’t yet gotten the COVID vaccination, they should consider doing so.
A chorus of “No’s and Boos” buried the popular South Carolina Senator under a wave of vocal disapproval. He tried to silence the naysayers. Graham said he was, “glad I got it”, speaking directly about the COVID vaccination.
The crowd did not like his answer. Even after hearing Graham insist on a series of positive statistics supporting the efficacy of the vaccine, the crowd shouted out “False”! The direction of the discourse shifted again.
A member of the audience shouted angrily at Graham that he was losing his job in 60 days. He asked the usually popular Graham what he was doing about it. The first question from Graham was, he wanted to know who was going to fire this man.
Graham wanted to know if he was possibly part of the U.S. Military or the Federal Government. The man simply shouted back, “What are you doing to stop it”? Usually very artful at playing to his audience, Graham continued to struggle with the audience’s fervent pushback.
Graham and the angry onlooker revealed they were both U.S. Military veterans. Graham made another bad decision, however. He tried to equate the shot for measles with the COVID vaccination. It was a bad idea.
It simply further ignited the crowd. They insisted the two were not the same. Graham finally caved to the COVID vaccine sentiment shared by his audience. He agreed that mandating the vaccination for U.S. Military personnel was a bad policy.
Hopefully, MAGA Boomers are finally getting sick and tired of Lindsey Graham & the “Conservatives” who promote him. pic.twitter.com/7XxBF430R1
— The Columbia Bugle 🇺🇸 (@ColumbiaBugle) October 6, 2021
What we wonder is when these so-called champions of conservative freedom are going to stop advocating for the liberal mandates pushing across our nation? When will they speak up for every American’s freedom of choice?
Seems a crowd of angry South Carolina conservatives think that time should be now, Mr. Graham. As races in the 2022 midterms begin to heat up, many conservatives say it’s either time to speak out, or time to step aside. Republicans will do it for them at the polls if they won’t.