South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham has sparked fierce backlash from big MAGA names after he professed his loyalty to Israel and said he was asking Americans to send their sons and daughters to the war in the Middle East.
“To all the antisemites, to all the isolationists…I’m not with you, I’m with Israel, I will be with Israel to our dying day,” he said in a Fox News interview.
Later, while condemning what he called “double-dealing in the Arab world,” he said: “I’m going back to South Carolina, I’m asking them to send their sons and daughters into the Mid East.”
Several MAGA supporters have spoken out against Graham and his comments, and others he has made recently, with one calling him “traitorous” and conservative podcaster Megyn Kelly calling him a “homicidal maniac.”
Why It Matters
Graham’s remarks come amid already-widening rifts inside the MAGA-aligned right over the U.S.-Israeli campaign against Iran, with influential conservatives arguing the war conflicts with “America First” promises.
A call by the Republican senator for U.S. partners to “step forward” and his pledge to back Israel “to our dying day” feeds an ongoing dispute over the scope of American involvement and the political costs of escalation with Tehran.
What To Know
Graham said in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity in Monday’s episode of Hannity: “To our friends in Israel, God bless you I’m with you in every way. To all the antisemites, to all the isolationists, forget it. I’m not with you, I’m with Israel, I will be with Israel to our dying day. They’re the best ally we could hope for.”
He went on to defend Trump’s decision to attack Iran with Israel, saying he “was doing what he had to do.”
“The only way they won’t get a bomb is for somebody to stop them,” Graham said of Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. “And that somebody is Bibi (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu) and Trump.”
Graham then called on American allies in the Middle East to stand with the U.S., saying: “I’m going back to South Carolina, I’m asking them to send their sons and daughters into the Mid East.”
“What I want you to do in the Middle East, to our friends in Saudi Arabia and other places, step forward and say ‘this is my fight too, I join America, I’m publicly involved in bringing this regime down,’” he said.
Graham also condemned Spain for refusing to allow America to use its air bases in the country and signed off at the end of the interview with: “God bless Israel, we should move all our stuff to Israel.”
What People Are Saying
Conservative podcaster Megyn Kelly said in a post on X: “Att’n South Carolinians with doubts about the Iran war: your U.S. Senator says explicitly ‘I’m not with you, I’m with Israel.’”
She also said in a separate post: “Let’s get real. The problem with [Lindsey] Graham isn’t (just) that he’s a homicidal maniac, it’s that Trump likes and is listening to him, and Trump’s favorite channel is parading him around like a Hefner bunny in stockings on every show.”
National security analyst David T. Pyne, a former U.S. Army officer who describes himself as “America First” said in a post on X: “Traitorous Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-Israel) admits his loyalty is not to America but to Israel saying “Im not with you. I’m with Israel until my dying day.'”
Conservative political commentator Matt Walsh said in a post on X: “This is an insane thing for a United States senator to say. Totally indefensible.”
Florida Republican Representative Anna Paulina Luna also said in a post on X: “There are some in the Senate that advocate for war everywhere. Lindsey Graham is one of them. He does NOT tell the President what to do, nor does he control Congress. I have spoken with the administration a number of times, as well as other members of Congress over the last week or so, and nothing has changed regarding boots on the ground. NO BOOTS on the ground. If Senator Graham wants to go fight in a foreign conflict, let him be the first to volunteer.”
What Happens Next
Congress will continue to weigh measures, including potential war powers resolutions, as the administration targets Iran’s military and nuclear capabilities, keeping internal Republican disagreements over Israel and the Iranian conflict in sharp focus.
Graham and other senators are likely to face intensified scrutiny from constituents and conservative media over calls to expand participation, signaling that the MAGA split over the Iran conflict will remain a central Republican storyline.
