Many of us still recall with disgust the disgraceful spectacle Democrats created during the confirmation hearings for Justice Brett Kavanaugh — a low point of pure political theater that exposed just how far partisanship had corroded the process.
It was a shameful episode, and while we’d like to believe such tactics won’t be repeated, recent history shows otherwise. Unfortunately, this kind of political warfare has become the Democratic Party’s standard operating procedure.
Many also remember that defining moment during the Kavanaugh hearings when Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) erupted in righteous anger, dressing down his Democratic colleagues for their political grandstanding. It was the birth of what came to be known as “Lindsey 2.0” — a tougher, no-nonsense version of Graham who refused to take any Schiff from anyone.
On Sunday’s Meet the Press with host Kristen Welker, that fiery version of Graham resurfaced. While discussing the charges against Letitia James and others, viewers caught another glimpse of Lindsey 2.0 — sharp, unapologetic, and ready to take the fight straight to the Democrats.
The two talked over each other several times, but here’s a fairly clear transcript:
Kristen Welker: Do you think that crosses a line between the Justice Department being independent from the executive branch?
Senator Graham: I think our Justice Department, in the hands of (President) Biden, crossed every line there is to cross. I think within three days of his announcing he was going to run for president in 2024, he did that in 2020, too.
KW (interrupting): But what about Trump? What about Trump?
Senator Graham: He had 91 indictments…
KW (still interrupting): But what about Trump?
Senator Graham: No, I think the grand jury’s going to take care of this. But you didn’t care any about this. You didn’t care that Letitia James made up charges that no one has ever faced.
KW: But Senator Biden never called for Trump to be indicted.
Senator Graham: He had.. Biden, Biden regretted that they didn’t do it before the election. Jack Smith surveilled my phone records and eight other Senators. Jack Smith introduced his brief against Trump on October the 24th, before the 2024 election, violating every protocol just to politicize the election. So this may bother you that people are being held accountable. It doesn’t bother me one d**n bit.
It wasn’t the same flash of anger or raw outrage we saw from Graham during the Kavanaugh hearings, but he certainly wasn’t letting Welker’s arguments slide unchallenged. Calm but firm, Graham pushed back on her framing, refusing to accept the media’s narrative at face value.
That’s exactly how conservatives should deal with the legacy media: don’t accept their premises, don’t take their “facts” at face value, and don’t let them define the terms of the debate. Stay focused. Stay disciplined. Stay on message.
In this interview, Kristen Welker was doing what the corporate press always does — trying to steer the conversation back to safe, familiar ground for Democrats. But as the exchange made clear, their entire playbook at this point boils down to one tired refrain:
“But what about Trump? But what about Trump? But what about Trump?”
That’s not a strategy — it’s a surrender. When “what about Trump” is all they’ve got left, it means Republicans have already seized the high ground.