South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham sparked outrage among the staunch supporters of President Donald Trump after he characterized the president’s choice to pardon over 1,500 individuals involved in the January 6 insurrection as a “blunder”—with one ex-inmate criticizing Graham as a “Republican in name only.”
In a segment aired on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, host Kristen Welker inquired if Graham thought it was “wrong of Trump to issue these sweeping pardons” to hundreds of defendants convicted in connection with the Capitol riot that occurred in 2021.
“First of all, he had the legal right to do so,” Graham said. “But I am concerned that this may lead to further violence. Pardoning those who charged into the Capitol and attacked a police officer with brutality strikes me as a misstep, as it may imply that such actions are acceptable.”
Derrick Evans, a former member of the West Virginia House of Delegates who received a three-month prison sentence in June 2022 for his role in the riots, responded to Graham’s remarks on X, suggesting that the long-serving senator was not a genuine Republican.
“Senator Graham refers to Trump’s choice to pardon January 6th demonstrators as a ‘blunder,’” Evans wrote on X on Sunday. “I’m among those J6 Prisoners who benefitted from a pardon, and Lindsey is a RINO [Republican in Name Only] POS.”
A number of other MAGA supporters resonated with Evans’ viewpoint and expressed their annoyance regarding Graham’s “circus” style of politics.
“Lindsey Graham’s political journey resembles a circus—only now, nobody’s interested in the show, and the clown has lost his way,” one user wrote on X.
Another commented, “I lost faith in Lindsey Graham back in 2016. What he says doesn’t matter.”
“Deeds speak louder than words. And Lindsey Graham is a COWARD,” a third user wrote.
On his administration’s first day, Trump declared he would issue blanket pardons to almost all of the criminal defendants who participated in the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot.
During his campaign last year, the president consistently pledged to pardon the January 6 detainees, whom he described as “hostages” and “patriots.”
