Lindsey Graham Reaction to Trump Calling Harris ‘Fascist’ Takes Off Online

On Sunday, a video segment of Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, reacting to a compilation of former President Donald Trump calling Vice President Kamala Harris a “fascist”—shortly after Graham denounced similar allegations against Trump—has taken off online.

The segment, which was aired by ABC News’ This Week, featured clips of Trump, the GOP nominee, calling Harris, the Democratic nominee, terms like “fascist” and “communist” at various campaign events during his 2024 presidential campaign. The video, shared by journalist Aaron Rupar on X, formerly Twitter, has been reshared over 4,200 times, liked by 16,000 users, and has been viewed over 1 million times as of early Sunday afternoon.

In the beginning of the segment, host Jonathan Karl said to Graham, a Trump ally, “You’ve been very critical of the generals, two of them using the word “‘fascist'” to describe Trump, referring to two former Trump administration generals John Kelly and Mark Milley.

Karl continued: “Let me just play you a little bit about what Donald Trump has had to say about Kamala Harris,” before airing the clips of the former president referring to Harris by the term.

Graham responded: “Why don’t you ask me do I think Kamala Harris is a fascist? No. Do I think she’s a communist? No. I think she’s the most liberal person to ever be dominated by a major party. I think she’s ineffective. I think she’s incompetent.”

Newsweek has reached out to Graham’s press team and Harris’ and Trump’s campaigns for comment via email on Sunday.

Former White House chief of staff John Kelly, who served in the role from 2017 to 2019, recently made public remarks about the former president, saying he reportedly praised German dictator Adolf Hitler, is a “fascist” and “prefers the dictator approach to government.”

In a statement emailed to Newsweek earlier this week, Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung, claimed that Kelly’s remarks about the former president had been “debunked.”

The Atlantic, after speaking with Kelly, reported that Trump said during his tenure, “I need the kind of generals that Hitler had.” The former general also told The New York Times in an interview that Trump praised Hitler on more than one occasion and that the former president had told him, “Hitler did some good things.”

Earlier this month, Milley, who served as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, reportedly told journalist Bob Woodward in his book War that Trump “is the most dangerous person ever. I had suspicions when I talked to you about his mental decline and so forth, but now I realize he’s a total fascist. He is now the most dangerous person to this country.”

At the time, Cheung told Newsweek via email: “Woke train-wreck Mark Milley clearly suffers from Trump Derangement Syndrome and it’s no surprise he pals around with a washed-up fiction writer like Bob Woodward to peddle lies and misinformation. If Milley spent this much time and effort doing his job, maybe the Afghanistan debacle would have never happened.”

During the segment on Sunday, Karl recited some of Kelly’s remarks to Graham, to which Graham replied that the former general is “undermining a concept that’s been good for America I think. Our generals have sort of been apolitical. He’s entitled to his opinion; I just categorically reject it.”

He added: “Three weeks before the election, you’re calling basically Trump, Hitler, a fascist, it’s not going to resonate. I think General Kelly’s criticisms are not based on facts; I think it’s emotional. It’s sad and it’s not going to matter.”

Karl noted that “Kelly is not alone in saying that” adding that Milley called Trump “fascist to the core.”

The senator then rebuked the claims, “I was around him [Trump]. I don’t think he’s a fascist. I thought he was a very strong president at a time we needed a strong president.”