“Very Smart; They’re All Very Smart”: Graham Slams Trump for Hezbollah Compliment and Cheers on Biden

William FurneyOct 22, 2023

Minute Read

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has hit out at former president Donald Trump for apparently praising Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in the wake of the Hamas attack on Israel — the deadliest in the Jewish state’s history.

Trump’s ‘Huge Mistake’

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The South Carolina senator said on NBC’s Meet the Press that Trump should instead have been offering support to terrorist-hit Israel, following the Hamas attack on October 7 that left more than 1,000 Israelis dead.

“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.

‘Applauding’ Biden

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Graham also said on the TV news show that Biden, a Democrat, was right to stand firm with Israel.

“I want to applaud President Biden for his strong statement in support of Israel. I just got off the phone with Israelis. Their goal is to destroy Hamas in the south and try to save as many innocent Palestinians as possible, to prevent escalation north from Hezbollah,” he said.

Trump ‘Praise’ for Terrorists

Hezbollah is considered a terrorist organization by countries including the United States. But at a campaign rally in Florida after the Palestinian group’s strike on Israel that could draw Hezbollah into the newly declared war, Trump appeared to heap praise on the militants.

‘Smart Militant Group’

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Trump told the crowd that Hezbollah was “very smart; they’re all very smart. Many, including his rivals for the Republican party nomination for the 2024 presidential election, leaped on the comments to criticize the former president.

Hamas’ Surprise Attack on Israel

Hamas militants launched over 2,000 rockets into southern and central Israel early in the morning of October 7, taking the Israeli intelligence services and military by surprise. Israel launched retaliatory strikes that have so far claimed the lives of over 4,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to monitoring groups.

Israel’s ‘9/11’

Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing coalition partners, have called the Hamas attack “Israel’s 9/11,” given the scale of destruction and loss of life. That references the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States using hijacked planes that killed nearly 3,000 people.

Trump Campaign Clarification

Trump’s presidential campaign was quick to clarify what he meant by his Hezbollah comments.

“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,” the campaign said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Online Trump Criticism

There was little support among people on X who reacted to the campaign’s clarification of what Trump meant.

One user, The Mighty Quinn, said: “Ever notice how often Trump supporters have to walk back things he’s said? I’m surprised Trump can even get a word out his mouth with how often his foot’s in there.”

‘Exhausting for Trump PRs’

Another person on X, Janine Curran, said: “It must be so exhausting being on the Trump public relations team,” given that his PRs had to consistently explain and defend what their boss says.

‘No MAGA Self-Awareness’

Yet another person, Luke Zaleski, opined on X, referring to the Trump campaign slogan Make America Great Again: “You’ll never convince any MAGA that they are not both the victim and hero in everything. In fact, the core nature of many Trumpers is an absolute absence of self-awareness married to an absolute abundance of self-centeredness…”

Trump ‘On the Right Path’

Senator Graham said on Meet the Press that at least Trump was now headed in the right direction concerning Israel and the outbreak of war in the region.

“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,” he said, referring to the Israeli prime minister’s nickname.

Nomination Rally

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Trump made his contentious comments at a rally seeking support for his nomination to be the Republican Party candidate in next year’s election. Trump is the frontrunner of GOP candidates that include Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, and he leads them by a wide margin.

Trump Way Ahead

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The latest polling puts Trump at just over 57 percent of registered Republican voters who say they will vote for him in the primaries next January, with just 13.4% for DeSantis and 7.2% for Haley. Trump’s vice president during his term in office, Mike Pence, is also seeking the GOP nomination but only has 4 percent support from voters, according to recent polling.

Trump Troubles

But Trump faces significant hurdles on the path back to the White House, if he receives the Republican nomination. The former president, 77, is fighting 91 federal charges connected to the 2020 election results he allegedly attempted to overturn and alleged secret document storage, after being indicted four times.