Lindsey Graham of South Carolina
Senator, thank you so much for joining me
this morning.
We have a lot to get to,
but let's start with that evacuations
There are still estimated
to be thousands of American citizens
still on the ground.
The government
isn't currently
considering another evacuation.
So what is your reaction
and how is President
Biden handling all of this?
Well, I appreciate the effort
to get all of our folks
out of the embassy
that that serve over there.
The military
did a very successful operation.
Yeah, I'm worried
you've got thousands of people
in the middle of a civil war.
And have we been late
about sort of telling them to le
Could you see this coming?
Those questions will be asked
and answered later on.
But right now,
if I were an American in Sudan,
I would shelter in place.
And hopefully we can find a way
to end the fighting
humanitarian aid and get our peo
Let's turn to the fight over
abortion rights.
Senator,
you've been a leader on this iss
Just before the midterm election
You proposed legislation to ban
Nationwide, after 15 weeks,
with some exceptions.
On Friday,
the Supreme Court ruled
that mifepristone
will continue
to be accessible to Americans.
Did the court get that right?
Yeah. I think what
the court's going to do is send
for a little more evaluation.
But the issue is, was the drug
all lawfully approved
Did the FDA follow its own proce
chemical, abortion, safe?
So those issues will be decided
by the court.
The idea of selling the drug
sending the drug through the mai
runs into a statute
called the Comstock Act.
The Supreme Court will sort all
here in the coming months.
And I'll live with whatever deci
they make.
Well, you mentioned the Comstock
which I should tell our viewers,
every article, instrument
and substance,
drug or medicine, things
that are used for abortion
from being in the mail.
It's a very old statute on the b
Do you
do you believe that the Supreme
should use that as a way to ban
this abortion pill?
Well, I think it's a law on the
And it was
there was placed there for reaso
But sending the abortion drug
through the mail
is is a big change in how it is
In 2000
when it was first approved,
you had to have four visits to t
and 20, 21.
The Biden administration
said you don't
have to even consult a physician
and send it through the mail.
Is that safe?
Is that as the FDA going too far
Have they used the procedures in
to make such a dramatic change?
That's what the court will decid
Former President Donald Trump's
said this week that the Supreme
got it right
when they ruled abortion
was a state issue.
But here's what former
Vice President
Mike Pence said yesterday in Iow
Agree with the former president.
He says this is a state's only i
I mean, we've been given a new b
for life in this country.
I think we have an opportunity
to advance the sanctity of life,
move it ever
closer to the center of American
Senator,
I've heard you say both on this
that it is a state issue,
but now you do support a federal
So who's right here, right
Well, I've been supporting a lim
on late term abortions for since
15.
I had a bill to limit abortions
at 20 weeks
with exceptions for rape, incest
life of the mother.
70% of Americans
support limiting abortion.
When the when the unborn child
can feel pain.
50 of 53 European nations
limit abortion at 15.
My question is,
is it a federal issue or pandemi
Yeah, it's a human rights issue.
Does it really matter
where you conceive at 15 weeks
you have a developed heart and l
and to dismember
a child
at 15 weeks is a painful
experience, is barbaric.
It's out of line
with the rest of the civilized w
Only North Korea and China
allow abortion on demand
up to the moment of birth.
Except the Democratic Party.
What the Democratic Party
proposes on abortion is barbaric
Abortion up
to the moment of birth, taxpayer
I think is barbaric.
I welcome this debate.
Well, I think the Republican Party
will be in good standing
to oppose
late term abortion
like most of the civilized world
Just for the record, Roe
went up to viability.
But I just want to button this u
The No.
No quick coverage for these guys
No, no, no.
Your media,
you keep covering for these guys
They introduce legislation
that allowed abortion on demand
with taxpayer funded.
Were you paying for it,
the taxpayer, up to the moment o
That was their position in Washi
That's the law they want to pass
And nobody in your business
will talk about it is barbaric.
I'm not covering for anybody.
And you know that.
And when I have Democrats on
and I've had Democrats,
I've asked for the fact
I have asked many,
all of them about their position
where they believe this issue sh
My question for you,
sir, is about my question for yo
sir, is about President Trump,
who you've endorsed
to be president again.
Is he right in saying that
this issue should be a states is
He said yesterday,
I think, at his speech in Iowa
that he opposes late term aborti
Here's what I believe,
that anybody running for preside
who has a snowball's chance
in hell in the 2024
primary is going to be with me,
the American people and all of E
saying late term abortions
should be off the table.
70% of people oppose late term a
I am confident
over time
that's where our nominee will be
I am confident
that no Democrat
will answer the question of
when do you draw a line?
They never get challenged.
And I welcome this debate.
I welcome this debate.
Should we be like China?
Or North Korea
or should we be like Europe
when it comes to late term abort
They do get challenged.
But I want to move on to somethi
that is very important to you,
which is at the Middle East.
You recently returned
from the Middle East.
You met with the Israeli Prime
Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu,
and Saudi Arabian Prince
Mohammed bin Salman.
Israel has been normalizing ties
with Saudi Arabia.
They want to make that a top pri
You have been very critical of t
crown prince in the past.
Listen to what you said. A few y
Yeah,
I introduced him
as three years ago,
two years ago in town,
hailing him as the new vision
and the new voice of the Middle
embracing his agenda
of reforming Saudi Arabia,
only to be played like a fiddle.
So what makes you think a deal b
these two countries is possible
now that the crown prince
How do you
how are you sure
that he's not playing you
like a fiddle again?
Well, you know, time will tell o
But what I see on the ground,
I spent four days doing it,
and thanks for bringing the topi
They've changed pretty dramatica
Their economy
they're trying to modernize our
Women can now drive.
Women can go out to dinner
without a male escort.
I met 20, 30 entrepreneur Saudi
that were very excited about the
Also went to Israel.
And here's why I went.
The Biden
administration is trying to buil
the Abraham Accords
started by President Trump
and the biggest
prize, for lack of a better
word, would be to get Saudi Arab
to recognize Israel and vice ver
And the Biden administration
is trying to do that.
And I want to help them.
I think the Biden administration
to want to normalize relationshi
with Saudi Arabia
based on the changes I see
and eventually have Saudi
Arabia and Israel
recognize each other,
which would be the end
of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
That would be the biggest change
in the Middle East in modern tim
And I want to help President
Biden and the parties do that.
If we can.
Back to the US
and specifically the Judiciary C
you're the ranking member
on that committee,
Senator Dianne Feinstein.
She's been absent for health rea
You and other Republicans
blocked the Democrats attempt
to temporarily fill her committe
if she resigns, isn't just absen
but actually resigned from the S
Will you allow this committee
seat to be filled
Yeah.
If she
resigned, I would make sure that
whatever we did in the past
when members resigned would be f
As to Senator Feinstein,
she is a wonderful person.
She's been a very effective sena
I hope she comes back.
We had Mark Kirk out for four mo
No Republican asked that he
his seat be temporarily filled.
This is about four or five judge
They can't get out of the commit
I voted for seven or nine
judges yesterday a couple of day
I'm very capable
of supporting Democratic nominee
but there are four
or five are just out of the main
And they want to replace
Dianne Feinstein seat for the ju
But I hope she comes back
but if she does resign,
I would be in the camp
of following the president of th
replacing the person
consistent with what
we've done in the past.
But I hope she comes back.
I hope Dianne gets better.
She's a wonderful person.
So if the precedent shows that y
or that the committee
has actually replaced
a member who has resigned
from the Senate, you
would follow that again?
Yeah.
Okay. Yes.
I want to turn back to 20, 24.
You have endorsed former Preside
as I mentioned,
there are two candidates in the
from your home state of South Ca
former U.N. Ambassador
and South Carolina Governor Nikk
and your colleague in the Senate
Tim Scott.
They've announced their own runs
or in Tim Scott's
case, an exploratory committee.
Why shouldn't South Carolinians
vote for one of their own
Well,
both of them are just incredible
Tim, as the ranking member on ba
world's nicest man
Nikki was a tremendous voice at
The reason I'm with President
Trump is
I thought he was a good presiden
on the things that mattered the
when a secure border
We destroyed the caliphate.
We had energy independence.
I think he's the right person
to fix the problems
that we face to undo all the dam
But Biden is not anything about
or Tim that I find fault in.
It's about the ability
of President Trump to get things
that should be done.
I'd like to see him have another
I'm not
supporting him
because I find fault in others.
I'm supporting him
because I think he was
a very effective president
across the board economically.
And on national security.
Okay.
Senator Lindsey Graham,
thank you so much
for joining me this morning.
Thank you.