Conservative writer Ben Shapiro is praising Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) for his defense of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
“Lindsey Graham 2.0 is pretty fantastic,” Shapiro tweeted.
The Daily Wire, Shapiro’s publication, also tweeted a clip of Graham telling a CNN reporter, “If you don’t like me working with President Trump to make the world a better place, I don’t give a shit.”
Graham in the past has faced criticism from conservatives for his stance on a number of issues, most notably immigration. But he is now earning praise from the right for his staunch defense of Kavanaugh, who is facing sexual misconduct allegations from multiple women.
{mosads}In fiery remarks at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings last Thursday, Graham said Kavanaugh had “nothing to apologize for” and accused Democrats of using Christine Blasey Ford’s allegations against Kavanaugh for political gain. He called the Democrats’ handling of the allegations an “unethical sham.”
Ford has accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her at a party in the early 1980s. Kavanaugh has denied the allegation.
“I am more pissed than I’ve ever been about how much information they had and when they had it,” Graham later said of Democrats, accusing them of leaking the allegations at the last minute.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, first received a letter about the allegations in July. She has said she did not release them to protect Ford’s confidentiality.
But Republicans have questioned her motives. The allegations became public one week before Kavanaugh’s originally scheduled confirmation vote, when Feinstein said she was passing on the allegations to the FBI.
Graham has since slammed NBC for its coverage of Kavanaugh as well as said that Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn) owes Kavanaugh an apology for her part in the “smear campaign.”
Graham explained Tuesday that has “been so passionate about this” because he “loves[s] the law.”
“I voted for [Justices Sonia] Sotomayor and [Elena] Kagan, never thought twice about it,” Graham said Tuesday of the Obama appointees. “I could never imagine me engaging in anything like this to take them down.”