Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., challenged President Trump on Sunday to get tougher on Russia to prevent it from interfering in the 2018 midterm elections, like the country did in 2016.
He suggested Trump is afraid to toughen cybersecurity measures against Russia because he conflates the Kremlin’s interference in the 2016 election with the possibility that the Trump campaign conspired in that effort, which the president fears would taint his victory.
“The president gets this confused,” Graham said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “If you suggest that Russians meddled in 2016, he goes to the idea that, ‘well, I didn’t collude with them.’ You didn’t collude with the Russians, or at least I haven’t seen any evidence. But Mr. President, they meddled in the elections, they stole [John] Podesta’s emails, they hacked into the DNC [Democratic National Committee]. It could be us next. Harden our electoral infrastructure in 2018, Mr. President.”
Graham said the Trump administration is “doing a lot of good work” implementing policies to punish Russia for its 2016 election interference, but needs to do more.
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“What I think he needs to do is lead this nation to make sure the 2018 election is protected, and he needs to be the leader of the movement, not brought to the dance reluctantly,” Graham said. “So I hope he will direct his government working with Congress to harden the 2018 election before it is too late.”
The hawkish South Carolina senator said he doesn’t “mind” that Trump plans to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the White House in the fall. But Graham said Trump should approach the meeting from a strong position by threatening Putin with more sanctions if it interferes in the 2018 electoral process.
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“You need to have new sanctions hanging over Putin’s head,” Graham said. “Just have sanctions that can fall on Russia like a hammer. Don’t meet with this guy from a position of weakness.”
On Thursday, months ahead of the 2018 midterm elections, the Justice Department released the findings of a cyber task force created in February by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, saying it will now implement a policy that will let the public know when a foreign government is attempting to influence American politics.
Lawmakers of both parties have said they were disappointed with how Trump handled his meeting with Putin in Helsinki last week. Trump suggested he accepted Putin’s denial of interfering in the 2016 presidential election, breaking with U.S. intelligence agencies who said Russia was behind the meddling operation. Trump later walked back his comments about Putin’s denial of election interference, claiming he misspoke.
Graham said he doesn’t know “what deals” were cut between Trump and Putin in that meeting, but he warned Trump to not rely on Russia to resolve the Syrian civil war, and to push Iran out of the country. Iran is helping prop up the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Graham also said Trump should not remove U.S. troops from Syria who are fighting the Islamic State, as the president has hinted he would like to do in the future.
“Here is the thing that would be a disaster in the region — if he agreed to withdraw our forces,” Graham said. “Russia won’t get Iran out of Syria. If you are relying on Russia to be the policeman of Iran, that is the biggest mistake you could ever make. We need to keep our troops in Syria, protect the Kurds who helped us destroy ISIS, and make sure that the place doesn’t fall apart and ISIS doesn’t come back.”
Graham said he hopes Trump does not cave to Putin’s policy demands in a potential future meeting.
“You don’t get a mulligan in this business, but you do get another start,” Graham said. “I hope Trump will get his footing with Russia. He has been tougher than [former President] Obama, but he hasn’t been tough enough.”
