


What in the world is going on with the normally sensible Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham?
Here’s the headline over there at Newsmax:
Lindsey Graham in Tel Aviv Meltdown: Tells Newsmax ‘Get Out of Here’
The story reports:
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., went into meltdown mode with Newsmax’s Israel correspondent, Daniel Cohen, during a Sunday press conference in Tel Aviv.
At the conference Cohen asked the senators why there was not a stronger condemnation, especially of those on the left like Democrat Reps. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, who have failed to condemn Hamas’ attacks.
Cohen told the senators that Tlaib’s “tweet is still up condemning Israel for a hospital attack we know was a lie.”
At that point, Graham, who held the podium with nine U.S. senators standing behind him, blew his gasket.
“We are here together, not to talk about the problems at home, which are many,” an angry Graham said, pointing his finger at Cohen.
“I’ve got my own view of what to say — you’re not going to screw this up,” Graham continued.
When Cohen interjected he was asking a “fair question,” Graham again raised his voice.
“You’re not going to screw this up,” he said.
The senator then pointed to security and yelled for them to remove Cohen.
“Get this guy out of here!” Graham said.
The story also reports:
Graham eventually apologized to Cohen for the comment, attributing it to “raw” emotions surrounding the high stakes in the region.
Full disclosure, I am a Newsmax TV contributor. And I have also met Graham a time or two. The senator is a thoroughly decent guy who has done yeoman service in his job as a senator, both for his state and America at large. As noted, he did apologize to Daniel Cohen. And yes, without doubt, the senator was literally in the heart of a war zone — a decidedly tense situation. He deserves serious applause for going there in the first place.
But it should be noted: Graham was not alone on stage or on this particular mission. Newsmax reports this from the also-present GOP Maine Sen. Susan Collins:
After the conference, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, took a markedly different tone than Graham.
“It’s very hard for me to understand why a member of Congress or anyone would not condemn what Hamas has done,” Collins told Newsmax.
After reciting a litany of Hamas’ atrocities involved in the killing of over 1,400 innocent Israelis, Collins said that “these acts should not be hard to condemn.”
Exactly. And, for the record, Graham and Collins were not alone. Newsmax identifies the other senators present as:
Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.; Cory Booker, D-N.J.; Katie Britt, R-Ala.; Ben Cardin, D-Md.; Chris Coons, D-Del.; Jack Reed, D-R.I.; Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska; and John Thune, R-S.D.
Two points:
First, I do not know Newsmax’s Daniel Cohen. But I most assuredly have watched his incredible reporting from Israel. He has been doing a yeoman and decidedly dangerous job of telling Newsmax viewers exactly what is happening in this vicious, lethal war where massacres and out-of-the blue rocket attacks and worse are the norm. So, too, his similarly decidedly gutsy Newsmax colleague John Huddy.
And second? It was decidedly noticeable that none of the Democrats accompanying Graham and Collins stepped up to condemn the serious anti-Semitism of Democrat Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan. Whom Cohen focused on in his questioning.
Is the seriously racist anti-Semitism repeatedly and rabidly exhibited by Tlaib now the coin of the realm in the Democratic Party? So much so that, literally standing in the middle of the Jewish nation that is being savaged by Hamas, these Democrat senators could not bring themselves to answer reporter Cohen?
Ironically, Graham’s tirade against Newsmax’s Cohen only highlights exactly the problem both inside and outside the United States. Which is to say that, yet again in world history, anti-Semitism is on the rise.
Here at The American Spectator, Mary Frances Myler has done the hard work to investigate Tlaib’s district. Myler reveals:
In reality, Tlaib’s district is heavily populated by Middle Eastern immigrants, with about one in 14 households speaking Arabic as their primary language. In Dearborn, one of the main cities in the district, Arab-Americans constitute nearly 55 percent of the population….
Though Tlaib’s activism is unpopular in Washington, D.C., she’s winning support from constituents back in the district. In recent weeks, Dearborn has been a hotspot for pro-Palestinian protests, from well-attended rallies in the week following Hamas’s initial attack to a high school walk-out in support of Palestinians just a few days ago. On October 15, thousands of protestors took to the streets, carrying Palestinian flags and chanting, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” a slogan widely interpreted as implying the removal of the state of Israel.
One protestor spoke with a reporter, expressing his support for Rep. Tlaib and praising Hamas. “If it means we die for the freedom of Palestine, we are ready to die,” he said. “Hamas is our freedom fighters. That’s all we have — Hamas.”
Suffice to say, the time to stand up and speak out against all of this is now. Right now.
Whether you are a Democrat senator visiting Israel — or having your Democrat party represented by a Democrat member of Congress whose flagrantly racist and anti-Semitic rants deserve censure at the least if not expulsion — there is always the moment to speak up.
This week, when faced with a version of that question from Newsmax’s Daniel Cohen — the Democrat senators on the platform with Graham chose to remain silent about Tlaib. As has the rest of the Democrat Party hierarchy.
Not good.
Not good at all.