‘Count Me Out, Enough Is Enough’: Lindsey Graham Offers Emotional Rebuttal to Objectors of Biden’s Electoral College Victory

During his five-minute speech on the floor of the Senate, South Carolina Republican and close Donald Trump confidante Lindsey Graham offered up a strong rebuttal to needlessly continuing the charade that the 2020 election was marred by rampant fraud and won by anyone other than President-elect Joe Biden.

At times serious, funny, and emotional, Graham took dead aim at some of his more politically ambitious Senate colleagues, like Sens. Ted Cruz (TX) and Josh Hawley (MO), who have wholly bought into Trump’s absurd and baseless claims of election fraud. As part of a gambit to delay the Electoral College certification for 10 days to conduct an audit of the vote in states where Trump has — baselessly — claimed he lost due to fraud, Cruz and Hawley joined with a majority of House Republicans on Wednesday night in a bit of pointless political theater to object to the electors from Arizona and Pennsylvania, which were both officially won by Biden.

Rising to speak, the South Carolina senator noted that “many times, my state has been the problem,” alluding to its role as a slave state, member of the Confederacy, and entrenched seat of institutionally racist discrimination. Graham then offered up a quick history lesson, pointing out that some Republican excuses for objecting invoked the 1876 presidential election, which resorted to a Congressionally-appointed commission to resolve a dilemma of dueling slates of electors from his state and two others. But that is a loaded analogy, he pointed out, since the ultimate victor, Republican Rutherford B. Hayes, only won after a compromise where he agreed to prematurely end Reconstruction in order to get sufficient Democratic votes to win.

“The rest is history. It led to Jim Crow. If you’re looking for historical guidance, this is not the one to pick,” Graham cracked, to laughter.  “If you’re looking for a way to convince people there is no fraud, having a commission chosen by Nancy Pelosi, Mitch McConnell, and John Roberts is not going to get you to where you want to go. It ain’t going to work. So it’s not going to do any good. It’s going to delay and it gives credibility to a dark chapter of our history. That’s why I’m not with you.”

Graham was careful to endorse the right to object, but argued that, to do so, right now and, after an unprecedented assault on the Capitol by violent pro-Trump rioters and insurrectionists would damage the nation.

“Trump and I, we’ve had a hell of a journey. I hated it being this way. Oh, my god, I hate it,” Graham added. “From my point of view, he’s been a consequential president. But today, first thing you’ll see, all I can say is count me out, enough is enough.”

He then explained his own personal debunking of the many false election fraud claims.

“They say there’s 66,000 people in Georgia under 18 voted. How many people believe that? I ask give me ten. Haven’t had one,” he noted. “They said 8,000 felons in prison in Arizona voted. Give me ten. I haven’t gotten one. As I say, there’s problems in every election. I don’t buy this. Enough’s enough. We got to end it.”

“It is over. The final thing, Joe Biden. I’ve traveled the world with Joe. I prayed he would lose. He won. He’s the legitimate President of the United States. I cannot convince people, certain groups by my words, but I will tell you by my actions that I above all others in this body need to say this,” Graham concluded, his voice cracking with emotion. “Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are lawfully elected and will become the President and the Vice President of the United States.”

As he stepped away from the microphone, applause rippled through the chamber.

Watch the video above, via CNN.