Fox News "Hannity" - Transcript: Interview with Senator Lindsey Graham

Interview

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HANNITY: This is sadly the Democratic playbook. I warn people every single two years, every four years on my radio show and right here on this show, Republicans, be prepared to be demonized, racist, sexist, misogynist, xenophobic, homophobic, Islamophobic, you want dirty air and water, you want to kill children and there will be some Paul Ryan lookalike throwing your grandmother over the cliff because Republicans want granny to die.

And it's the same now with Supreme Court nominees, same predictable behavior. We've now come to expect this.

This has to change, this country deserves better. The people of this country deserve better. These people in D.C., and this swamp, they are supposed to serve us, you, we, the people. It's not about a Republican, Democrat, liberal or conservative here. This is pure human decency that was in play today.

They destroyed this man and his family. They bludgeoned him, all for the sake of power. There was zero presumption of innocence here or due process.

Now, the Democratic Party, every two, four years, every time we have a nomination to the Supreme Court, we know what to expect, the party of slander, besmirchments, smears, character assassination, the party of no due process, no presumption of innocence, the party that rushes to judgment. Look at all the high profile cases rushed to judgment -- the Duke lacrosse case, the Cambridge police acted stupidly, Ferguson, Missouri, Baltimore, Maryland, Richard Jewell, Trayvon Martin.

Is this the party that is going to decide the fate of this country? Because in 40 days, that same party wants you to go out and vote for them. Look at your screen.

You see these Republican senators? These are the people who will decide the fate of the Kavanaugh nomination right there. Those are the people that will decide if we still have due process in this country.

If these principles exist in this country, if we still have laws predicated on the Constitution, let them know how to vote. Call them. Tell them what's at stake. Let them know what you felt today watching these hearings, and if you are in one of the states where Donald Trump won, West Virginia, Joe Manchin, North Dakota, Heidi Heitkamp, Indiana, Joe Donnelly, you're a senators up for reelection. If they don't confirm Judge Kavanaugh and they go along with the smear campaign, if they go ahead and do that, are you going to vote for them?

There is a lot in the next few days, weeks and months that we're going to decide and we have a lot to get to in the course of this program tonight. I just want to say, what we are looking at here tonight, what we are looking at, you get to hold them accountable for your decisions. Never has a Supreme Court nomination been more important.

This country is at a tipping point. Inalienable rights of Americans will continue or we are never going to be able to go back. Our Constitution, all these core principles hang in the balance tonight and we have one party that is throwing all of this to the wind and adopted smear, slander, personal politics and destruction.

Unless good senators find a backbone and stick up for these core fundamental rights of every human being, like we've been talking about, due process, justice, law, order. Democrats take down Judge Kavanaugh, a man with impeccable service and 40-year track record, they can take down anybody, any conservative, any politician for any reason on any allegation with zero proof, ever.

The Senate cannot let this happen. They cannot reward this behavior.

Joining us now, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham.

Senator, good to see you. Thank you. I've known you a long time.

GRAHAM: Yes, 20 years.

HANNITY: As it was happening, I was live on my radio show, and when I had my next break, I don't think you ever had a more powerful moment in your career. I have known you a long time.

GRAHAM: Thank you.

Well, I just told the truth. This is not about finding the truth between Dr. Ford and Brett Kavanaugh. This is about delaying the hearing to get past the midterms, I hope they pick up the Senate and denying the seat to be filled by Donald Trump.

It's not about the FBI. If you really wanted to know what the FBI thought about this, you would come forward when you first know about it.

It's certainly not about protecting Dr. Ford. The one thing I learned beyond any doubt today, any doubt, is they never intended to protect Dr. Ford.

And everything I believed I knew about Brett Kavanaugh, I am now more convinced than ever that he didn't do it. That he is the right guy to be on the court. That Ms. Ford has got a problem and destroying Judge Kavanaugh's life won't fix her problem.

And if we legitimize this, God help us all because both sides can do this to my friends on the other side. I would never have done this to one of your nominees. You should be ashamed.

HANNITY: You voted for people that I know you did not share their judicial philosophy.

GRAHAM: I would never have picked up.

It used to be if you are qualified, elections matter. Here's the big picture is, elections don't matter to them. They only matter when they win.

Now, when we win, when Donald Trump wins, there are no rules. There are no boundaries. President Trump today, I hope you understand why he picked Brett Kavanaugh. Not only is he incredibly qualified judge, an incredibly decent man, he and his wife are the parents of the year.

If they are going to give an award for parenting, I'd give to Ashley and Brett based on what their girl -- his daughter said about who to pray for. So I'm honored to help him. If I helped him today, it's one of the highlights of my career.

And to my Republican colleagues, if this guy goes down, then we don't deserve to stay in power, because it's not about power to me. It is about the process. It is honoring elections.

To my Democratic friends -- Joe Manchin, I liked him a lot. Joe, you can't figure this out? Trump won by 40 points. Do you really believe that Brett Kavanaugh is a serial rapist? Do you believe any of this garbage?

And I'm sorry that Dr. Ford went through this, she shouldn't have had to go through it, but I am convinced beyond any shadow of a doubt that Brett Kavanaugh is not the man that they are trying to make him and this is all political.

So, Joe, I hope you'll step up. Heidi, I hope like you a lot. Joe Donnelly, great guy. Why can't you talk about whether or not we met the burden here?

If he had to prove he was innocent, he did it for me, but he didn't have to.

HANNITY: Let me ask you -- Republicans met in conference tonight in the Senate.

GRAHAM: Yes.

HANNITY: Bring us inside the meeting as much as you are able to share.

GRAHAM: That went well. I think everybody was blown away by Brett.

Can you imagine doing what he did today?

HANNITY: No.

GRAHAM: Your life is ripped apart. You've had a 32-hour meeting. You met with every senator. They've known about this for weeks and they spring it on you at the end.

Then it goes to where Avenatti comes out and says that you're a serial rapist, you drug women.

HANNITY: Gang rape and boys lining the halls and --

GRAHAM: And your whole life is just absolutely destroyed.

I think Republicans today felt like Brett Kavanaugh not only met the test, passed the test, that this is political. And I will be brokenhearted if the Senate rejects this good man.

HANNITY: Bob Corker said yes.

GRAHAM: Good for Bob.

HANNITY: Jeff Flake off-camera said this is a tough one.

(CROSSTALK)

GRAHAM: Well, I would say to -- I would say, Jeff, it is tough because I don't know what happened to Dr. Ford but I've been a lawyer all my life, I use to do this for a living. Jeff, you could get a warrant. She can't tell you where it happened or what happened, it's not he said, she said, it's she said and they said.

All people named said it didn't happened.

HANNITY: All four.

GRAHAM: And you can't get the date and the time. And my God, he went through a counter of 1982, this is the most squared away guy that I've ever met my life.

I was just honored to be in his presence. If, again, I've never seen anybody command a room like he did. I've never seen anybody more sincere and I've never seen anybody more used and abused than Dr. Ford was by the Democrats.

HANNITY: Let me ask you, it seems -- Jeff Flake, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and I've actually been quoting Susan Collins because she is the one that rightly pointed out from the beginning, this has been unfair to both sides here. And she's right. She's been right about that.

GRAHAM: Yes. Well, what I would tell Susan is that, if you are the way they say Brett is, you wouldn't have the life Brett has lived. You wouldn't have 65 women coming forward, you wouldn't have six FBI investigations that found nothing, you wouldn't be in this profile of a job. He's been in the highest levels of government, a target for 26 years.

He found out about it after the hearing was over, they knew about it and they sat on it, there is no corroboration. And the Avenatti thing tells you all they need to know about where they are headed with him. If they delay this, there will be more coming and he doesn't deserve it. It's time to vote.

HANNITY: The Senate judiciary committee will meet tomorrow morning.

GRAHAM: Yes.

HANNITY: Walk us through the process. The full Senate will vote we expect, what, Tuesday?

GRAHAM: Yes, we will vote tomorrow in committee. I will go through why I believe he is qualified and capable and I will tell you without hesitation what I think has happened here in the confirmation process.

If this is the new norm, God help us all. I hope he will get reported out of committee along a party line vote. I hope Jeff can get there.

I would just stress again, that this man has led an incredible life and everything they are saying about him is made up and it comes out of the left field. And it's not corroborated. Please don't take away everything he has done. He's number one in his class, ever since he's done anything.

And I think we're going to get him confirmed, and if we go to the floor on the Senate, we're going to pick up some Democrats. Let me tell you this. If you live in these Trump states and you can't figure this out, good luck to you.

HANNITY: Le t me ask you one last question. As you look at the emotion of today, and all that happened, -- my best friend from third grade, his name is John Gomez and he called me yesterday. He said Hannity, you always say every two or four years, Republicans are racist and sexist and my whole list as he calls late.

GRAHAM: Yes.

HANNITY: And he goes, I think I understand a little more now why you always do it, because when you say these horrible things, and now we have gotten used to it, we expect it, you know, it's like my father was killed all over again. Elect Republicans and black churches will burn our or crosses will burn. Or Republicans don't want to count African-Americans in the census, Al Gore said. This has to stop, senator.

GRAHAM: Those are political arguments that we can handle and people obviously don't buy in--

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: That's smearing, though.

GRAHAM: This is destroying somebody.

HANNITY: Yes.

GRAHAM: I would hope and pray that I never get this desperate as a political person to destroy somebody. This was a wholesale effort to take a good man and ruin his life and it backfired on him.

This is not about political arguments, this is not about what they will do or we will do, this is about the fact that they were willing to set a man up and destroy his life.

HANNITY: It was hard to watch.

GRAHAM: It was really hard to watch and when he talked about his daughter -- let's pray for the lady, too. This is a good man, please vote for him.

HANNITY: You know, senator I think the reason your moment was so powerful is it was raw, and real and unplanned.

GRAHAM: It was totally, totally real.

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: I think you reflected the views of many Americans.

GRAHAM: You know what got me was, why won't you agree to the FBI investigation, what do you have to hide? These are the same people that sat on the information that made it impossible for us to do an investigation because they wouldn't help us.

They knew it for weeks, planned what they are doing intentionally, and I am convinced to out at Dr. Ford for the political moment that we saw today and it blew up in their face. And I hope America understands that if this is the new way of doing business, we are going in the wrong direction. We have a chance to turn it around beginning tomorrow at 9.30 a.m.

HANNITY: And in 40 days the American people get their chance.

GRAHAM: Yes.

HANNITY: Senator, thank you so much for being with us. I appreciate it.

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