Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is the latest Republican to criticize former President Trump’s apparent praise of Iran-backed Hezbollah last week.
“Yeah, that was a huge mistake. If I were President Trump, [I’d] talk about being the strongest president for Israel in modern times,” Graham said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” when asked about Trump’s remarks. “He’s — he issued a statement two days ago, ‘I stand with Bibi, I stand with Israel.’ Yeah, it was a mistake. He’s on the right track.”
In recent days, Trump has faced blowback for saying Hezbollah, which is based in Lebanon, is “very smart, they’re all very smart.” The U.S. has labelled Hezbollah a terrorist organization. GOP presidential candidates Ron DeSantis, Chris Christie and former Vice President Mike Pence have all pushed back on Trump’s comments.
The Trump campaign has attempted to walk back the remarks, saying that just because he called Hezbollah “smart” does not mean that he was praising the group.
“President Trump was clearly pointing out how incompetent Biden and his administration were by telegraphing to the terrorists an area that is susceptible to an attack. Smart does not equal good,” read a tweet from the campaign’s “War Room” account.
Trump is also facing criticism for his remarks about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who he accused of “letting us down” in 2020 just before the U.S. killed a top Iranian general. Graham also said Sunday that this criticism of Netanyahu was “not helpful” at this time.
Hezbollah and Israel have exchanged fire in recent days following the ignition of Israel’s separate front against the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which launched a surprise attack on Israel more than a week ago. The war has claimed more than 3,600 lives across Israel and Gaza as Israel prepares for a possible ground operation into Gaza.