Sen. Graham stands behind President Trump, donates $500K to President’s legal defense fund

The Senator said the administration needs to provide specific instances of voter irregularities if they want to challenge election legitimacy

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) — Just days after winning his fourth term in the U.S. Senate, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is not done fighting for conservative clout in the capitol.

The Senator pledged to donate $500,000 to support any legal efforts from the Trump administration to fight what he calls “voter irregularities.”

Graham, who currently serves as the Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told reporters Friday the President has a legitimate reason to look into any voter issues that spring up in states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Georgia.

“It is incumbent upon the Trump administration to make specific cases of voter irregularity,” Graham said. “They’re looking through the files now — did people vote who were not legal residents of Pennsylvania? Did people vote who were dead? Those type things are in the offering.”

Sen. Graham said the President has a legitimate shot of gaining an edge in Arizona and possibly in Georgia as well.

Even as votes are counted, the President’s opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, is calling on the process to carry on organically.

“We have no doubt that when the count is finished, Senator Harris and I will be declared the winners, so I ask everyone to stay calm, all people to stay calm. The process is working,” Biden said in remarks to the press Thursday.

Sen. Graham said he’s not ready to declare a second Trump term a lost cause, but says he’d be willing to help Biden if he’s chosen as the 46th president.

“Let’s hear the Trump team out. They deserve to be heard,” Graham said. “But if Joe Biden is President of the United States, I feel it’s incumbent upon me to help him where I can and find common ground that’s good for the country, good for South Carolina.”

Sen. Graham recently edged out Democratic challenger Jaime Harrison for his fourth term in the Senate. Both campaigns each raised more than $100 million. The Senator said his victory came into full force over the last two weeks; he cited his handling of the hearings to confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court and how Harrison tried to split the conservative ticket by hyping up Constitution Party candidate Bill Bledsoe (who had dropped out of the race and endorsed Graham weeks before the election) as reasons voters came to him.

With Republicans flipping a U.S. House seat (State Rep. Nancy Mace defeated Democratic Rep. Joe Cunningham in District 1) and three S.C. Senate seats, as well as a handful of other local seats, Senator Graham lauded a “red wave” that reflected the growing conservative nature of the state.

Sen. Graham said in the Senate, he will work to continue to be a consistent vote against what he called the “radical left” agenda, saying anything related to that would be “dead on arrival” in a Republican-controlled Senate. However, he said he would work across the aisle as well on issues like infrastructure and things that would impact South Carolinians.

He also said he would financially support the campaigns of Georgia’s two Republican Senators, David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, who are headed to run-offs against Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock respectively.

Heading into 2021, eight of the nine South Carolina seats in both chambers are occupied by Republicans; House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-SC) is the only Democrat representing South Carolina in Washington DC.