Liberals Rage at Dianne Feinstein for Maskless Hug of Lindsey Graham After Barrett Hearing: ‘Check Out This Hideous Metaphor’
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) ignited a wave of liberal anger when she both complimented and then hugged — while maskless — Judiciary Chair Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) at the conclusion of that committee’s Amy Coney Barrett nomination hearings on Thursday.
The 87-year-old California senator and Judiciary Committee Ranking member offered fulsome praise of Graham, calling the Barrett proceedings “the best set of hearing that I’ve participated in,” even as Congressional Democrats have decried Republicans for filling the seat with the 2020 election already underway. And after Graham gaveled the hearings to a close, he and Feinstein shook hands and leaned in for an embrace.
Graham, notably, is currently locked in a dead heat Senate race with Democratic challenger Jaime Harrison, who raised a record $57 million in the third quarter, prompting Graham to beg for financial assistance on Fox News. That race’s most recent debate had to be restructured into a virtual forum because Graham has repeatedly refused to take a Covid test, despite his having been exposed to the White House outbreak several weeks ago.
The overlapping bad optics of thanking the GOP for a hearing her own party blasts as a “sham,” physically embracing an opposition senator who is currently facing a stiff Democratic challenger, and publicly flouting CDC guidelines about the coronavirus unleashed a torrent of angry criticism at the six-term senator.
I don’t care that Feinstein and Graham are friends and it’s never a bad thing to remember that we are more than our partisan identity.
I care that Feinstein catastrophically mismanaged the hearings, was outwitted without realizing it, and did a grave disservice to the public. https://t.co/MKGiPQH0YB
— Susan Hennessey (@Susan_Hennessey) October 15, 2020
On man, please don’t hug fucking Lindsey Graham https://t.co/7eMkMplb5i
— Molly Jong-Fast? (@MollyJongFast) October 15, 2020
Ugh. On top of everything else he refused to get tested. Ugh again.
— Amy Siskind (@Amy_Siskind) October 15, 2020
Civility is NOT dead…
just the ACA, Roe v. Wade, and the future of progressive legislation broadly.
(also dude refused a #COVID19 test). https://t.co/lCTiUDNUCr
— Abdul El-Sayed, MD, DPhil (@AbdulElSayed) October 15, 2020
Graham refuses to take a coronavirus test, so avoiding physical contact with him is common sense, especially if you’re 87 years old like Feinstein. But — https://t.co/3EKmXeJDBI
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 15, 2020
If you told Feinstein Graham will use this in an add, she’d be pleased. Old-time Senate Democrats see the senate as a club, don’t want anybody kicked out of the club, and care more about their friends than having a majority. https://t.co/5ArIxk5xTI
— Jonathan Chait (@jonathanchait) October 15, 2020
GOP senator steals Supreme Court seats & Dem senator rewards him with hug https://t.co/ZYuLiQGqi2
— Ari Berman (@AriBerman) October 15, 2020
OH COME ON DIFI https://t.co/MqRzUDE4Uf
— Molly Jong-Fast? (@MollyJongFast) October 15, 2020
Check out this hideous metaphor. https://t.co/R21oaEkPym
— Cody Johnston (@drmistercody) October 15, 2020
? We found love in a corrupt place ? https://t.co/VaQawCHeY6
— Emma Vigeland (@EmmaVigeland) October 15, 2020
i hate the senate so much https://t.co/W5ShzKS5Ze
— Oliver Willis (@owillis) October 15, 2020
If this image doesn’t persuade Democrats to replace Feinstein as Judiciary chair, I don’t even know what the Dems are fucking doing. https://t.co/8ALtVTEjkR
— Ian Millhiser (@imillhiser) October 15, 2020
Honestly, this is worse than Feinstein commending Graham with her words. https://t.co/UhiXbrKr1R
— Josh Spiegel (@mousterpiece) October 15, 2020
absolutely the fuck not https://t.co/oaLp309Cmg
— creppy andrea grimes (@andreagrimes) October 15, 2020
I don’t even know what to say. This is a complete, gut-wrenching failure of leadership and recognition of the stakes. https://t.co/hnpgAiP7Qp
— Emmy Bengtson (@EmmyA2) October 15, 2020
This should be the moment Democrats drop her as their leader of the Judiciary Committee. https://t.co/71Kr06hN7Q
— Jamal Raad? (@jamalraad) October 15, 2020
Perhaps @harrisonjaime can replace both of them on the Judiciary Committee in January https://t.co/06WWzxVPCM
— Anil Kalhan (@kalhan) October 15, 2020
There are 39.5 million people in California. We get two senators. This is one of them: https://t.co/7AsbxLlKK3
— Mike Monteiro? (@monteiro) October 15, 2020
One left-wing critic brought up her defeated 2018 Democratic primary challenger, progressive Kevin de León, as a counter-example of someone who wouldn’t disappoint Democrats.
Kevin De León would never have done shit like this. So gross on so many levels https://t.co/VuJ501VAqc
— Ike Barinholtz (@ikebarinholtz) October 15, 2020
But one conservative pundit also weighed in, to offer a positive take on Feinstein’s possible motives.
What if she’s hugging him goodbye from the Senate. https://t.co/jT6ocrF7Sx
— Amanda Carpenter (@amandacarpenter) October 15, 2020
