Former President Donald Trump said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is “wrong” about his January 6 remark.
During an interview with Newsmax, host Rob Schmitt mentioned a comment Trump made over the weekend about potentially pardoning January 6 rioters.
He then pointed out how Graham called his comment “inappropriate.”
Trump responded, “Well, Lindsey Graham is wrong. I mean, Lindsey is a nice guy, but he’s a RINO.”
He continued, “Lindsey’s wrong. Look, they tried to burn down Washington — we’re talking federal buildings. They were terrible. Every Democrat city was on fire, and nobody says anything about it. Antifa and BLM were causing so many problems, including death.”
The former president claimed, “Nobody died on January 6.”
Mentioning Ashli Babbitt, Trump added, “She was killed by a ruthless man that never should have used his gun to shoot her.”
Trump went on to reiterate that January 6 rioters are being treated “horribly.”
TRUMP: 'RINO' Lindsey Graham "doesn't know what the hell he's talking about" when the Senator says it would be inappropriate for Trump to potentially pardon Jan 6 defendants. @SchmittNYC pic.twitter.com/wrJeHTOWaF
— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) February 2, 2022
Arguing the punishments are “20 times out of proportion,” Trump explained, “These people are being persecuted. And the other when they caught people killing people, they want to give them the minimum sentence. They’re out there fighting for the minimum sentence. It’s a very unfair situation.”
“So I would absolutely be prepared, and Lindsey Graham doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about if he says that because you have to have equal justice. It’s very, very unfair what’s happened to this group of people,” Trump said.
During his rally over the weekend, Trump told his supporters he would “give them pardons because they are being treated so unfairly.”
Graham told CBS News Trump’s comments were “inappropriate,” adding, “I don’t want to do anything that would make this more likely in the future.”
According to The New York Times, at least seven people died in connection with the riot.