Lindsey Graham claims Trump is too incompetent to pull off a quid pro quo

(Image credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Well, it wasn't the most flattering defense.

While Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) has said it's actually becoming easier to defend President Trump amid the congressional impeachment inquiry, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) had to dig deep to do so on Wednesday.

Graham seems fed up with the whole thing, saying on Wednesday that he won't read any of the newly released transcripts because the whole thing is "a bunch of B.S." Graham said one of the reasons he doesn't think President Trump deserves to be impeached is because there's little chance the Trump administration was savvy enough in the first place to come up with the idea of withholding military aid from Ukraine in exchange for Kyiv publicly announcing anti-corruption investigations.

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Graham generally defends Trump, but he does tend to criticize his foreign policy, so this comment serves as a win-win for the senator. He was able to blast Democrats for continuing their impeachment quest, while also expressing some dissatisfaction with Trump, who probably won't be too happy to hear the backhanded defense.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.