‘His Churchill Moment’: Lindsey Graham Serves Up Wild Defense of Trump’s Widely-Panned Comments on Americans’ Finances

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) compared President Donald Trump’s objective to deny Iran a nuclear weapon to Churchill’s campaign against Nazi Germany as he answered questions on NBC News’s Meet The Press on Sunday.

Moderator Kristen Welker played video of Trump saying he did not think about Americans’ financial situations when considering how to respond to Iran.

“Financial situation, I don’t think about anybody,” Trump told reporters last week. “I think about one thing: we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon.”

Graham went to bat for Trump’s widely-panned comments.

“That’s his Churchill moment,” Graham said. “When Churchill came into power, he promised blood, sweat, toil, heartache, until we deal with the Nazis who are an existential threat to the British way of life. And if Hitler had taken charge of the planet, it would have been the darkest hour in humanity.”

Graham continued, “I believe Iran wants a nuclear weapon — they would use it as part of their religious agenda. They would destroy the Jewish state. They would eventually hold us hostage. [Trump’s] audience, the Iranian regime — do I worry about gas prices? Yes. But President Trump’s right: The biggest threat to stability in the world is a nuclear-armed Iran. and whatever price we have to pay, we will pay. What did Churchill say? ‘Whatever price we have to pay to beat Hitler, we will pay.’ Same with Iran.”

Welker asked if was worth losing the midterms over dissatisfaction with the economy in order to achieve a non-nuclear Iran.

“It’s worth losing my job,” Graham said. “If I had to give my job up to make sure Iran would never have a nuclear weapon, I would do it.”

“Would you give up the House and the Senate?” Welker asked.

“I would give up — politically, the most important thing I can do with the job I’ve been given is to protect the American people,” Graham said, continuing:

Now, you don’t have to agree with me, but I’ve been this way for 20 years. I believe they’re religious Nazis in Iran. If they had a nuclear weapon, they would use it. They’ve been trying to get one, they’ve been cheating. Obama and Biden were jokes when it came to containing Iran. Trump is doing something people should have done a long time ago. But here’s the good news: gas prices will come down when you put Iran in a box. Saudi-Israel peace will become possible when you put Iran in a box. The upside of dealing with Iran is enormously good, but you gotta deal with it.

Watch the clip above via NBC’s Meet The Press.

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