Susan Collins has often appeared spineless when it comes to standing proud for conservative values. However, the idea that Senator Graham would turncoat is sort of surprising. The South Carolina legislator has long been a vocal supporter of President Trump.
More than once, Graham has insisted that any member of the Republican Party not aligned with President Trump is drifting in the wrong direction. However, both Graham and Collins appear to have turned on the January 6 conservatives, many of whom were wrongfully charged and all of whom are being poorly treated.
President Trump gave a stirring speech in Conroe, Texas, on Saturday night. He spoke directly to what the January 6 commission is doing. The former president, who many feel is primed to announce his candidacy for 2024, said he’d consider pardoning some of those charged.
But Graham and Collins, along with other weak-kneed Republicans, seemed to suggest that the collective mass of people being overly charged and wrongly prosecuted should “get the book thrown at them” is odd.
According to HuffPost,
Republican elected officials sought to distance themselves from a pledge President Donald Trump made over the weekend to pardon those charged in the Jan. 6, 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol should he run for the White House again and win.
“I think it’s inappropriate,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a Trump ally, said Sunday in an interview with CBS’ “Face The Nation.”
Asked if he believed that Trump’s pledge to offer pardons to rioters could be dangerous, Graham said he did.
“I don’t want to reinforce that defiling the Capitol was okay. I don’t want to do anything that would make this more likely in the future,” the senator said. “I hope they go to jail and get the book thrown at them because they deserve it.”
What seemed most apparent is the head-jerk reaction many Republicans had over President Trump hinting at a pardon for some January 6 convictions. He never said “all of them”. It seemed clear where President Trump’s focus would be.
He feels a number of those being prosecuted simply got caught up in the chaos. It was somewhat of a “wrong place at the wrong time” reference. The radical left is trying to make an example out of the simplest cases, despite having no relevant reason to do so.
The mainstream media ran with the over-exaggerated narrative as well. They all missed the biggest point of President Trump’s speech. It said it clearly. “If I run and if I win, we will treat those people from Jan. 6 fairly. We will treat them fairly.”
President Trump specifically opened the door for investigations into who the actual charges were leveled against. That’s the whole problem. There are some who may well deserve harsher penalties.
But invariably, the entire mass of people arrested and jailed is not being treated fairly under United States law. That’s the reference President Trump was making. People like Lindsey Graham and Susan Collins are quick to run for cover.
When they overreach like they did in this instance, it shows their true colors. They’re yellow, weak-hearted fools who look to save their own skin first. Customarily, Collins has always been a master at this. But one senator from the Gamecock State appears to have turned chicken.
