Monday kicked off the confirmation hearings for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Biden's nominee to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, and senators are already off to the races.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) made waves during his initial remarks: He lamented the dramatics of confirming Justice Brett Kavanaugh, as well as his displeasure at how Jackson, rather than shortlisted contender Judge Michelle Childs, was selected to fill Breyer's vacancy.

"The attacks from the left against Judge Childs was really pretty vicious, to be honest with you," Graham said. "This is a new game for the Supreme Court, and this game is particularly disturbing to me. Because there's been a wholesale effort of the left to take down a nominee from my state."

"If that's the way the game's going to be played then I'll have a response and I don't expect it to… reward that way of playing the game," he added while guessing that Childs would have earned 60 or more votes, rather than the simple majority needed to confirm a justice.

Graham had "lobbied hard" for Childs, "and previously warned that it could be problematic for him to vote for another potential pick," The Hill writes.

The senator also got ahead of criticism he expects to follow Republicans' examination of Jackson.

"We're all racist if we ask hard questions — it's not gonna fly with us," he said. "We're used to it by now, at least I am. So it's not gonna matter a bit."

Watch his full address below:

The intra-party disputes among Democrats are getting plenty of attention, but Republicans are having their own internal battle over how far to push their debt-limit brinksmanship ahead of a senseless and catastrophic Oct. 18 default.

So far, the party is standing behind Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) demand that Senate Democrats raise the debt limit through the laborious budget reconciliation process. But the clock is ticking, and McConnell's caucus is "divided over whether to push their fight as far as it will go," Politico reports. Democrats want Republicans to at least stop blocking them from raising it alone. The House has already voted to suspend the debt ceiling through December 2022.

Senate Republicans have three main options: They could agree not to filibuster the debt ceiling bill, allowing Democrats to pass it with 51 votes. At least 10 Republicans could agree to join Democrats and beat a filibuster, allowing an up-or-down vote. Or they could carry on forcing Democrats to take extraordinary measures like reconciliation, ending the filibuster for debt-limit votes, or something gimmicky like asking the Treasury Department to mint a $1 trillion coin.

And if Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) does decide to embark on the reconciliation route, Republicans could make it easier for them, use delay tactics up until the brink of default, or burn everything down by blocking the measure in the Senate Budget Committee. This is where most of the GOP discord is right now, Politico reports.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), the Senate GOP's budget point man, wants to force Democrats to use reconciliation and "pick a number" on raising the debt limit — "a specific dollar figure opens the door for Republicans to launch attacks on Democratic incumbents in next year's midterms," Politico explains — but he insists "he doesn't want to string the process out so long that it actually puts the nation's credit at risk," Politico says.

"I mean, I'm not going to be a complete asshole about it," Graham told Politico. "But I'm going to make them take some tough votes."

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who's leading the charge to filibuster any debt limit bill, seems more interested in the maximalist position. "The only end place for this political theater is going to be complete surrender by Chuck Schumer, and he knows this," he said. You can read about where other Senate Republicans stand at Politico.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is working behind the scenes to increase visibility of Afghanistan's small organized anti-Taliban resistance led by Amrullah Saleh and Ahmad Massoud, Politico reports.

Graham told Politico he wants to "go all in" on Saleh, the former Afghan vice president who has declared himself the country's legitimate president, and get "his voice out." Some of his efforts include trying to connect Saleh and Massoud to high-ranking Indian and British diplomats, as well as booking Saleh spots on high-profile news shows, like Sean Hannity's, which he appeared on last month. Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.) joined forces with Graham, securing Massoud a spot on another Fox News show last week.

The resistance has taken a tumble in recent weeks, with the Taliban recently gaining control of their stronghold, the Panjshir province. Furthermore, Saleh hasn't been heard from in over a week because communications have been severed, though Graham said he has no reason to believe he's dead or fled the country (sources have confirmed Massoud is still in Afghanistan).

Still, Graham thinks the longshot resistance is worth betting on, and he wants the Biden administration to give them humanitarian assistance and some logistical support, like satellite phones. "If you continue to put all your eggs in the Taliban basket, you're on the losing side over time," Graham told Politico. "If you start helping different resistance groups, then you'll actually have some leverage with the Taliban." Read more at Politico.

The weekend before Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) tested positive for COVID-19, he was reportedly at a small gathering on his colleague Sen. Joe Manchin's (D-W.V.) houseboat in Washington, D.C, multiple news outlets are reporting.

Graham, who has a mild case and was previously vaccinated against the virus — he said he was "very happy" about that fact since he's convinced he'd be having a rougher time, otherwise— said he first developed symptoms on Saturday night. It's unclear if this was after the small gathering on Manchin's, which reportedly included other senators. Manchin's office hasn't confirmed who else was in attendance, but said the fully vaccinated Democrat is following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's guidelines. Currently, the CDC recommends fully vaccinated individuals who are exposed to COVID-19 get tested three to five days later, though quarantining isn't necessary only necessary after a positive test.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) announced he has tested positive for COVID-19 and will be quarantining for 10 days as he recovers from mild symptoms, which he said are similar to those of a sinus infection.

Despite the diagnosis, Graham expressed relief that he had previously been vaccinated against the coronavirus. "I am very glad I was vaccinated because without vaccination, I am certain I would not feel as well as I do now. My symptoms would be far worse," the 66-year-old lawmaker tweeted, suggesting that his mild illness shows the shot did its job by significantly reducing his risk of severe disease.

A week ago, as the Senate returned to work after what's looking more and more like a planned assault on the Capitol and Congress by supporters of President Trump, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said he was done with Trump. "Trump and I, we've had a hell of a journey," he said. "I hate it to end the way. Oh my God, I hate it." After Wednesday's siege, "all I can say is count me out, enough is enough," Graham added, and it's time to acknowledge President-elect Joe Biden's victory and stop the madness.

But it turns out, it didn't end that way. On Tuesday, a few days after being harassed by Trump supporters upset he acknowledged Biden's win, Graham accompanied the president down to Alamo, Texas, on Air Force One. Now he's "one of Trump's few confidants" left, The Washington Post reported Wednesday night. Graham "broke with the president last week over attempts to overturn the election only to be welcomed back in the president's good graces a couple of days later," and now he's leading the lobbying effort to convince his fellow GOP senators not to convict Trump in his impeachment trial.

When news broke that the No. 3 House Republican, Rep. Liz Cheney (Wyo.), would vote too impeach Trump, Graham recounted to the Post, "I just told him, 'Listen, Mr. President, there are some people out there who were upset before and are upset now, but I assure you, most Republicans believe impeachment is bad for the country and not necessary and it would do damage to the institution of the presidency itself."

"The reality is that the GOP base is still firmly behind Trump," says Politico's Andrew Desiderio, but if Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) "votes to convict — which is now more of a possibility than it was before today — then I think it’s nearly certain that 17+ Republicans will vote to convict," which would be enough.

"Count me out" of the plan to object to the Electoral College certification, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told his colleagues on the Senate floor Wednesday night. Graham was never really on board, but had previously suggested he was at least willing to listen to his fellow Republicans, like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who wanted to challenge President-elect Joe Biden's victory because of unfounded allegations of widespread voter fraud. By the time he spoke, though, Graham had reached the conclusion that "enough is enough."

Graham provided the chamber with a brief history lesson, arguing that the objectors were making a mistake by citing the 1876 election between Samuel Tilden and Rutherford B. Hayes as precedent for their actions. That year, there were disputed results in four states — Oregon, Louisiana, Florida, and Graham's home state of South Carolina. So, a 15-member Electoral Commission, similar to what Cruz and others want to see now, was formed. Hayes, the Republican, eventually received the votes he needed to become president.

But, Graham noted, the commission wasn't the real reason the matter was settled. Behind the scenes, Republicans met with Democrats, who agreed not to accept a Hayes victory as long as federal troops were pulled from the South, bringing an end to the Reconstruction era. The deal, which became known as the Compromise of 1877, paved the way for Jim Crow. "If you're looking for historical guidance," Graham said, "this is not the one to pick." Tim O'Donnell

Georgia's Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and his advisers were prepared for President Trump to press him on overturning the state's presidential election results during a Saturday phone call, so they decided to record the conversation, which they eventually leaked after Trump mischaracterized the exchange. But the decision was also inspired by a previous phone call Raffensperger had with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) in November, Politico reports.

Raffensperger accused Graham of asking him whether he had the power to toss out all mail ballots in Georgia counties found to have higher rates of non-matching signatures, a claim the senator denied. Either way, the call apparently prompted Raffensperger to remain on high alert if he found himself in similar situations. "Lindsey Graham asked us to throw out legally cast ballots," one of Raffensperger's advisers told Politico. "So yeah, after that call, we decided maybe we should do this."

As it turns out, Graham's attempt to help Trump win the election wound up backfiring on the president down the line. Read more at Politico.

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on Tuesday returned to the Senate floor, where she cast the decisive vote to block President Trump's controversial pick for the Federal Reserve, Judy Shelton. Before that, though, she received a series of what appeared to be congratulatory greetings from a number of her Republican colleagues, including some who haven't yet publicly acknowledged Trump's defeat.

Sens. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and James Lankford (R-Okla.) have laid low when it comes to their stance on the election — Lankford has said President-elect Joe Biden should be receiving intelligence briefings during the "contested election" — but they both offered congratulations to Harris on Tuesday, as did Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), who has previously said it "looks like it will be President Biden." Less surprisingly, Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), who was one of the first sitting GOP lawmakers to publicly acknowledge Biden's victory, also paid his dues.

The most confusing moment, though, came when Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) gave Harris a fist bump.

Graham has been quite vocal about his support for Trump's election challenges, and a friendly exchange with Harris certainly doesn't confirm that he's switching sides, but it does at least hint that he's aware of the reality of her victory.

A lot of Republicans agreed on a somewhat arbitrary rule in 2016 that the Senate should not confirm a Supreme Court nominee during an election year. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), the current Judiciary Committee chairman, was so convinced by the righteousness of his argument that he said he would hold off on considering a nominee put forward by President Trump if it occurred during an election year — and he urged people to keep the tape and use his words against him if he changed his mind. Well, now he's changed his mind, and The Lincoln Project rolled the tape.

The Late Show used an earlier iteration of Graham's "use my words against me" offer and took him up on it Monday night. And Stephen Colbert's writers used a liberal interpretation of his pledge. Watch below. Peter Weber

Sens. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) said Wednesday they may oppose fast-tracking the Senate's coronavirus stimulus package because they fear that it could incentivize layoffs, as well as entice people to quit their jobs because they could make actually make more money from the enhanced unemployment insurance.

The argument angered some people, like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who is threatening to hold up the bill until there are stronger protections from workers unless the GOP senators drop their objections. But others were left scratching their heads.

People are typically only eligible for unemployment benefits if they lose their jobs through no fault of their own. There are exceptions, of course, but generally speaking people who quit would need to show they had "good cause" for doing so to qualify for financial assistance.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Sunday on CBS's Face the Nation that nobody should believe unverified information Rudy Giuliani brings back from Ukraine about former Vice President Joe Biden because it could be Russian disinformation, that Attorney General William Barr has created a special "process" through which Giuliani — President Trump's personal lawyer — can feed the Justice Department his Ukraine information, and that Biden should be investigated for possible corruption in Ukraine. Host Margaret Brennan tried to keep up.

"Has the Department of Justice been ordered to investigate the Bidens?" Brennan asked. Graham said no, but earlier Sunday, Barr "told me that they've created a process that Rudy could give information and they would see if it's verified."

Brennan tried again a few minutes later: "When you're talking about being asked to do these things in a channel being open between Rudy Giuliani and the Justice Department, this sounds a lot like this is in some ways a taxpayer-funded oppo-research operation against Joe Biden. Isn't this exactly what was at the heart of the impeachment probe to begin with?" "No, not at all," Graham said. "There are plenty of people being contacted by folks from the Ukraine." He mentioned Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) inviting Giuliani's former business partner Lev Parnas to watch Trump's impeachment trial and a 2017 prank call to Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) in which Russian entertainers — who later duped Graham — offered "compromising" nude photos of Trump. "So Democrats are being played and I'm not going to be played," Graham said.

"There would be so many things wrong with Barr granting VIP direct access to Giuliani that it's hard to know where to start," writes CNN legal analyst Elie Honig. For example, what Giuliani is doing is likely illegal, he argued, and such an arrangement would clearly show Barr "to be a spineless partisan, serving Trump's every political and personal desire."

Fox News' Chris Wallace pointed out Sen. Lindsey Graham's (R-S.C.) updated view on witnesses in a Senate impeachment trial, but Graham swore the situation is now different.

House Democrats say "evidence overwhelmingly establishes" Trump's guilt ahead of his Senate impeachment trial, set to begin arguments on Tuesday. But they want to call new witnesses to testify, including former National Security Adviser John Bolton and Lev Parnas, an associate of Rudy Giuliani. Senate Republicans have so far denied the request.

Wallace said Graham's view that new witnesses should not appear "directly contradicts what you said as a Republican House impeachment manager in 1999 during the Clinton impeachment trial." At the time, Graham said "there may be some conflict that has to be resolved by presenting live witnesses. That's what happens every day in court and I think the Senate can stand that."

"Why were witnesses okay then, but they're over the line now?" asked Wallace.

Graham blamed the "railroad job" in the House, saying witnesses were available before the House voted to impeach Trump. "If they were that important, why didn't you call them in the House? Do you need them to make your case?" The Hill reports that in some cases, witnesses were not available or willing to testify until very recently. The White House also blocked several administration officials from appearing before the House. Summer Meza

The Trump administration reportedly wants to throw the so-called "sanctions from hell" back where they came from, The Daily Beast reports.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who — despite generally aligning with President Trump on domestic matters — has been known to stray when it comes to foreign policy, introduced legislation earlier this year that would place new, heavier sanctions on Russian individuals and companies as punishment for Moscow targeting Ukraine, attacking dissidents, and interfering in the 2016 U.S. election, as well its activities in Syria. But the White House has joined various business groups in arguing the proposal goes too far.

In a 22-page letter, a State Department official reportedly said the administration "strongly opposes" the bill because it "risks crippling the global energy, commodities, financial, and other markets." Additionally, the White House believes it could hit closer to home and harm American banks and asset managers operating in Russia.

The sanctions also would require the intelligence community to report to Congress every 90 days about whether the Kremlin is meddling in U.S. elections, which the Trump administration reportedly considers "impossible" to certify.

The bill passed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday, and now awaits a vote on the Senate floor, though it's unclear if or when that will take place. Graham said he's willing to work with his fellow senators to make some changes to the bill so that it becomes more palatable, but it still "must be strong to be meaningful." Read more at The Daily Beast.

Numerous witnesses at the House impeachment hearings have testified that President Trump was refusing to grant a crucial meeting and unfreeze U.S. military aid to Ukraine until its new president, Volodymyr Zelensky, publicly announced investigations into Joe Biden, his son Hunter, and the gas company Burisma, on whose board Hunter Biden sat. Zelensky almost complied, but Trump released the money two days before the announcement.

On Thursday's Late Show, Stephen Colbert informed guest Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) that what Zelensky wouldn't do, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) will undertake instead. "There is news that just broke," he said, "that Lindsey Graham is launching a probe of the Bidens, Burma, and Ukraine. First question: What the hell?" He noted that Harris is on the Senate Judiciary Committee with Graham. "What do you make of this?" he asked.

"It's the same thing that they've been doing, which is to create a big distraction from the facts and the evidence," Harris said. "The Burisma, the Biden probe — it's a bunch of B.S." Colbert pointed out that even Republican impeachment witnesses like Kurt Volker said there's nothing there and you can't impugn Biden's character with this. Harris said Graham's investigation shows Republicans "know they have to create this big distraction" to keep America from focusing on "the fact that we have a criminal living in the White House."

Graham was, not too long ago, in agreement about Biden's character and rectitude, especially when it comes to his family.

Harris said she's skeptical her GOP colleagues will vote to convict Trump in the Senate, and explained why she wants Vice President Mike Pence to testify. Watch below. Peter Weber

President Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had a cordial meeting on Wednesday, with Trump going out of his way to say he's a "big fan" of Erdogan and the two are "very good friends." But there was no evident progress on the big issues dividing the NATO allies: Turkey's assault on America's Kurdish allies in Syria and its purchase of Russian S-400 missile defense systems, and America's refusal to extradite a Muslim cleric Erdogan accuses of fomenting revolt.

Trump invited five Republican senators critical of Turkey to his Oval Office meeting with Erdogan, and things "took a dark turn when Erdogan pulled out his iPad and made the group watch a propaganda video that depicted Kurds as terrorists," Axios reports, citing three people familiar with the meeting. "Erdogan apparently thought he could sway these senators by forcing them to watch a clunky propaganda film. The senators in the meeting took turns pushing back on Erdogan, while Trump sat back and watched, intervening occasionally to play traffic cop."

All of the GOP senators were upset about the S-400, but Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) "got into a heated back-and-forth" with Erdogan over the Syrian Kurds, Axios reports. After Erdogan's film finished, Graham asked him: "Well, do you want me to go get the Kurds to make one about what you've done?" Graham told Axios late Wednesday that he had informed Erdogan "that 10,000 SDF fighters, mostly Kurds, suffered, died, or injured in the fight against ISIS, and America will not forget that and will not abandon them."

Graham also made a wry comment when Trump told Erdogan to pick a "friendly reporter" at their joint press conference.

If Turkey's jailing and censorship of journalists were a joke, that would be funny.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff announced Wednesday that the House impeachment inquiry will hold its first public hearings in a week. "There you have it, the Schiff hits the fan next Wednesday," Stephen Colbert said on Wednesday's Late Show. "And if the transcripts they've already released are any indication, this is going to be très cray, beybey."

The testimony released Wednesday was from William Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, and it "undermines every argument the president has made so far," Colbert said, pointing, for example, to Taylor's "clear understanding" that Ukraine would not get U.S. military aid until it agreed to conduct Trump's political investigations, which he understood to be a "quid pro quo." Trump "has been saying 'no quid pro quo' all this time, and now his own diplomat is saying 'yeah huh pro quo,'" Colbert said. "What else has the president been lying about? Is Mexico not gonna pay for the border wall?"

Gordon Sondland, Trump's ambassador to the European Union, belatedly acknowledged the quid pro quo in an amended statement Monday, and "now, Sondland's sudden awareness that he didn't want to go to jail has put Trump's Republican defenders in a bit of a bind," Colbert said. "When the facts aren't on your side, your only hope is ignorance," and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) was more than up to the task, he added, showing Graham insisting he won't read any of the transcripts. "How tragic. Graham is clearly working through the five stages of Republican impeachment grief: Anger, denial, won't read, can't read, no hablo inglés." Watch Colbert try to educate Graham below. Peter Weber

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) announced on Fox News Tuesday night that he intends to introduce a Senate resolution condemning the House's impeachment inquiry against President Trump.

Speaking to Sean Hannity, Graham said the inquiry is "unconstitutional" and "illegitimate," and his resolution would argue that articles of impeachment should be "dismissed in the Senate without a trial." Graham stated that he is worried about future presidents, and "we cannot allow ... this president to be impeached based on an inquiry in the House that's never been voted upon, that does not allow the president to confront the witnesses against him, call witnesses on his behalf, and cross examine people who are accusing him of misdeeds."

Graham told Hannity he is "insisting that Donald Trump be given the same rights as every American has if you're given a parking ticket, to confront the witnesses against you — can't be based on hearsay." Graham is a staunch Trump defender, whose thoughts on impeachment seem to depend on the person in the White House. Catherine Garcia

President Trump is earning pushback from some Republicans for comparing the House of Representatives' impeachment inquiry to a "lynching," but not from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).

Trump declared the inquiry a "lynching" in a tweet Tuesday morning, with this inflammatory comparison instantly drawing condemnation from Democrats, with Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), member of the Congressional Black Caucus, tweeting, "Do you know how many people who look like me have been lynched, since the inception of this country, by people who look like you."

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) isn't supporting Trump's comparison, in a news conference Tuesday saying it's "not the language I would use" and making clear that "I don't agree" with it. Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) similarly said Tuesday that while he agrees with Trump's complaints about the inquiry, "I wouldn't use the word lynching," per NBC News' Frank Thorp.

Scott's South Carolina colleague Graham, however, came to Trump's defense and took no issue with the comparison. "This is a lynching in every sense," Graham told reporters.

Asked about the comparison Tuesday, White House Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley claimed Trump "wasn't trying to compare himself to the horrific history in this country at all." Brendan Morrow

President Trump was in his element Wednesday night, Seth Meyers said on Thursday's Late Night, as he whipped the crowd at his North Carolina rally into a "racist frenzy" by going after Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.).

Meyers said Trump has spent the last few days slandering Omar, who came to the U.S. as a Somali refugee and is a naturalized citizen, and stood by as the audience began chanting, "Send her back!" This was "one of the most vile spectacles in modern political history," Meyers declared, "a defining moment for our country, and any Republican who doesn't immediately condemn it should imagine how it will look in a history textbook years from now, because there will absolutely be a section on this and it will absolutely name everyone complicit in it and they will absolutely use the worst photo of you they can possibly find."

To prove it, Meyers put up a graphic showing a photo of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) that made it appear as though his face was melting into a puddle of chins, and another of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) looking like a hissing bobcat out for revenge.

When asked by reporters on Thursday about the chant, Trump said he tried to shut it down, but Meyers was prepared with a clip showing Trump just standing there, looking around the arena. "That's not how you stop a chant," he said. "That's how you wait in line at the deli for them to call your number." This was an "obvious lie," but that's the "con at the heart of Trump's politics. He whips his base into a racist frenzy and claims Omar is the one who looks down on hard-working Americans, when in reality he's the one plundering the government, doling out trillions in tax cuts to his rich buddies, and partying it up all night because he doesn't work on Thursdays." Watch the video below. Catherine Garcia

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) both took to Fox & Friends on Monday to attack the minority lawmakers who President Trump told to "go back" to where they came from, choosing not to condemn the president's remarks.

Gingrich during a Fox & Friends segment was asked if Trump's tweets were a "good political move," to which the former House speaker praised Trump for his effort to make the country realize "how radical" these members of Congress are "and how fundamentally anti-American their views are," adding that "anything he does to elevate them is to his net advantage," Mediaite reports.

Trump over the weekend had attacked a group of progressive Democratic congresswomen including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), telling these lawmakers, who are U.S. citizens, that they should "go back" to the countries "from which they came." Of the four congresswomen Trump seemed to be targeting, three were born in the United States, and another, Omar, fled to the U.S. from war-torn Somalia at a young age.

Graham also discussed Trump's remarks on Fox & Friends, lightly suggesting that the president "aim higher" while pointing out that the members of Congress Trump is attacking are American citizens, reports Media Matters for America's Matthew Gertz. But he didn't condemn the tweets and launched his own attack on the lawmakers, who he said "are a bunch of communists" who "hate Israel" and "hate our own country."

Trump himself is continuing to double down on his tweets, on Monday morning suggesting it's these lawmakers who are racist and must apologize. Brendan Morrow

Just who was President Trump's tariff redux supposed to impress?

On Thursday night, Trump tweeted his intention to impose a five percent tariff on all imports from Mexico starting June 10. And almost immediately, everyone but Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) lined up to tear holes in it.

The tariffs would increase by five percent every month until peaking at 25 percent in September, and will remain "until Mexico substantially stops the illegal inflow of aliens coming through its territory," a White House statement clarified. Stock markets took the news hard, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and Nasdaq all sliding about a percent when they opened Friday morning. Economists also pointed out how the tariffs could push prices on cars, avocados and other American essentials through the roof.

Lawmakers cited all those reasons when voicing their tariff opposition on Friday, with Sens. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) specifically suggesting the tariffs could jeopardize the USMCA trade deal Trump has spent months trying to pass. Senate Finance Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) issued perhaps the harshest blow, reminding Trump that "trade policy and border security are separate issues" in a statement and calling the tariffs "a misuse of presidential tariff authority." Even Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell didn't quite say Trump was on the right track.

But Graham? Well, he's on Trump's side yet again. Kathryn Krawczyk

After President Trump went after late Senator John McCain once again, some Republicans in the Senate are speaking out.

Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) is the latest to do so, telling The Bulwark that Trump's comments about McCain "drive me crazy" and that "America deserves better." This comes after Trump in the Oval Office on Tuesday criticized McCain, who died of brain cancer in 2018, saying his vote against repealing the Affordable Care Act was "disgraceful" and that "I was never a fan of John McCain, and I never will be." Trump's also went after McCain three different times on Twitter over the weekend, including retweeting a follower who wrote, "We hated McCain."

In response, Isakson said "nobody — regardless of their position — is above common decency and respect for people that risk their life for your life." He argued that when Trump makes comments like these, "all these kids are out there listening to the president of the United States talk that way about the most decorated senator in history who is dead, [and it] just sets the worst tone possible."

This isn't Isakson's last word on the subject, as he told The Bulwark he will speak against these attacks on McCain on Wednesday and will "lay it on the line."

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) previously pushed back on Trump's attacks on McCain on Tuesday, tweeting that he "can't understand" why Trump would "disparage a man as exemplary as my friend John McCain." Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) also praised McCain amid the president's criticism, saying "nothing about his service will ever be changed or diminished," although unlike Romney's post, Graham's tweets didn't mention Trump.