Sen. Lindsey Graham addressed the “send her back” chants directed at Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., during President Trump’s Wednesday North Carolina rally and the ongoing fight between the progressive freshmen members of Congress and the president on Thursday morning.
The chant was the latest in a nearly week-old feud that began with the president calling on her and Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, and Ayanna Pressley of Masschusetts to “go back” to their native countries if they’re unhappy with the current status in the United States. Omar is the only one of the four who was born outside of the U.S. but is an American citizen.
Following the tweets, Graham appeared on Fox & Friends and told the president he should “aim higher” with his criticism, arguing that he should fight them on their policy beliefs instead of personal attacks.
Graham said to a gaggle of reporters, “I don’t have any animosity toward anybody who disagrees with me based on their origin. The point is, they’re all American citizens entitled to their voice. And when they do provocative things, they’re going to be met with provocation. So this is a two-way street, not a one-way street. I’m trying to fix the broken immigration.”
A reporter then asked him about the chants.
“I think the president is playing on the 1968 love it or leave it. I’ve said before, that if you’re a Somali refugee wearing a MAGA hat, he doesn’t want to send you back. You’ll probably have dinner at the White House. What does that tell me?” he answered. “That it’s about the criticism and not the critic, that the president believes what they’re doing is over the top. We’re not running concentration camps so when you start accusing people of running concentration camps …”
