Lindsey Graham Gives China an Ultimatum He’s Not Really in a Position To Give: ‘If You Don’t Help Us…’

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) gave China an ultimatum on Wednesday night as President Donald Trump met with President Xi Jinping in the country.

Trump and Xi exchange pleasantries during a televised meeting in Beijing, with Trump telling his counterpart, “It’s an honor to be your friend.” Earlier, Trump was greeted by children waving U.S. and Chinese flags. The American president was accompanied by several U.S. business titans, including Elon Musk and Tim Cook. Also on the trip is the president’s son, Eric Trump, who has business ties to the Chinese Communist Party.

Graham appeared on Fox News, joining Sean Hannity, who is in Beijing to cover the summit. The senator said he has introduced a bill “that would allow President Trump to put tariffs on China for buying Russian oil and gas. And I’ll do the same thing down the road.”

However, moments later, Graham spoke as though he were solely capable of imposing economic punishment on China:

But here’s the problem. You name the allies of China, they’re all dirtbags. They’re aligned with the worst people in the world. They’re buying oil cheaply from Iran, keeping their war machine going. Same thing with Russia. If China stops buying Iranian oil or threatened to do it, the war with Iran would be over.

All I’m asking China to do is help us open up the Strait of Hormuz, help us stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon because I think they would use it. Help us and the bloodbath in Russia and Ukraine that is hurting the world economy. If you help us, I will be very grateful. If you don’t help us and you continue to prop up these regimes, I will do business with you on Monday and put tariffs on you on Tuesday.

This is not the first time Graham has suggested he can unilaterally punish other countries.

In March, the senator told Saudi Arabia that “consequences will follow” if the kingdom did not get more involved in the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. In January, Graham targeted Cuba’s leaders, stating, “Their days are numbered.”

Watch above via Fox News.

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