Lindsey Graham used Barrett's hearing to complain about his Senate opponent's massive fundraising hauls

Sen. Lindsey Graham's (R-S.C.) faltering campaign finances are clearly weighing on him.

As Senate Judiciary Committee chair, Graham was in charge of leading the first day of questioning in Amy Coney Barrett's Supreme Court confirmation hearing on Tuesday. But within his first few minutes of speaking, Graham already brought up an issue that admittedly had nothing to do with Barrett: his Senate opponent's massive fundraising haul.

Over the weekend, Democrat Jaime Harrison announced he'd raised an overwhelming $57 million in the third quarter of this year as he seeks to unseat Graham. That was easily the largest single-quarter Senate fundraising gain in history, and it's clearly weighing on Graham's mind.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

After predicting Monday that Harrison's haul might spark a "backlash" from South Carolinians who think he's "trying to buy the state," Graham took a different approach to the issue during Barrett's hearing. He brought up the Citizens United Supreme Court case that okayed massive corporate donations to candidates, and then addressed Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), who is staunchly opposed to the Citizens United decision. "Me and you are going to get closer and closer on regulating money," Graham said, because "I can tell you there is a lot of money being raised in this campaign and I'd like to know where the hell some of it's coming from." Kathryn Krawczyk