Sen. Lindsey Graham unleashed his fury at a reporter during his visit to Israel, telling him after his question about Rep. Rashida Tlaib that his nerves were “raw right now.”
The South Carolina Republican joined a bipartisan senate delegation in a show of support for Israel over the weekend, visiting the Middle East nation in the wake of the murderous attack by Hamas terrorists two weeks ago that claimed the lives of over 1,400 civilians. Graham was particularly vexed by questions the Newsmax Jerusalem correspondent peppered him with about Tlaib, the far-left Michigan Democrat who has made her anti-Israel sentiments more than clear in the last days.
“Thank you, Daniel Cohen, the Jerusalem correspondent for Newsmax. I want to say thank you for being here. My family lives here. I made aliyah two years ago. So this is personal,” the reporter began.
“I know many people were sent from the United States and there is international press from around the world. And I heard every single one of you voicing your support for Israel fervently, stridently, and I heard that. And I received that into my heart,” Cohen continued.“And so on behalf of my family and people, I’m an American and an Israeli citizen, I say thank you. But it starts at home. And I’d like to ask any Democrat senator here that would like to speak to Rashida Tlaib. She still has a tweet up condemning Israel for a hospital attack.”
It was at this point that Graham, who was standing alongside nine U.S. senators, stepped up to the podium, saying “Uhh, stop. No,” and telling Cohen to “stop” as he continued.
“It’s a fair question Senator Graham,” Cohen replied.
“We are here together not to talk about the problems at home, which are many,” Graham said. “I have got my own view of what to say. You’re not going to screw this up.”
“I’m not trying to screw it up,” Cohen shot back.
“Get this guy out of here,” Graham then exclaimed, pointing.
“I live here. I’m an Israeli. I want an answer to the question,” Cohen pressed.
“I’m an American,” the senator declared, to which the reporter responded, “And I am, too.”
“And I believe in free speech. I don’t believe what the squad has to say at all,” Graham went on.
“But I came here with Democrats and Republicans to let everybody in the world know, don’t judge every Democrat by the Squad and don’t judge every Republican by some of the things you hear,” he told Cohen. “Or about the House, they’ll get their act together. But we need to do our job. We need to do our job in the Senate. We need to pass a bill that will help Israel help Ukraine. That’s at least what I think. I think the House will show up.”
The GOP lawmaker then seemed to take a breath and apologized, saying, “And I’m sorry, my friend. I probably shouldn’t have said it, but my nerves are raw right now.”
Cohen later expressed his views on the exchange.
ICYMI:🚨Things get testy when Sen. Lindsey Graham tries to kick me out of a news conference for asking a question about Democrat lawmakers who refuse to condemn Hamas.
Thank you Sen. Susan Collins for doing the right thing.
WATCH FULL📢 @NEWSMAX https://t.co/fsnkWUKCVH pic.twitter.com/1e473uLFaK— Daniel Cohen (@DanielCohenTV) October 23, 2023
