Did Iran have anything to do with the sudden death of Senator Lindsey Graham—or is social media racing ahead of the facts? Following the longtime Republican senator's unexpected death, one of his most controversial speeches on Iran has resurfaced online, reigniting debate over his hardline foreign policy and his long history of confronting Tehran.
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#LindseyGraham #Iran #BreakingNews #USPolitics #DonaldTrump #MiddleEast #WorldNews #USIran #Republicans #Senate #Geopolitics #Israel #LauraLoomer #Politics #InternationalNews #Congress #Washington #NewsUpdate #CurrentEvents #Trending
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NewsTranscript
00:00Thank you for coming. I'm here in the upstate home and I just want to make a comment about the
00:07fact that it appears that we may have lost three soldiers. It appears that way and others injured.
00:14It's heartbreaking. I've been in the military most of my adult life and those who serve in
00:20harm's way, they're the best among us and it's heartbreaking to lose comrades. But this vicious
00:29enemy we're confronting in Iran needs to be confronted. The risk that our soldiers are facing
00:35has to be made, has to be taken for us to be safe. So to those who have sacrificed, the
00:44ultimate
00:44sacrifice, you died in a noble cause. It's a noble cause to stand up to terrorism that would threaten
00:55our homeland. If the Ayatollah had a nuclear weapon, I believe he would use it, but he is now dead.
01:02I believe he would destroy Israel if he could and I know he would come after us if he could
01:06get here.
01:07And I am so proud of President Trump and Admiral Cooper for finally making this regime pay a price.
01:16The largest state sponsor of terrorism, the largest state sponsor of terrorism is going to be no more soon.
01:24The mothership of terrorism, Iran, is sinking and the captain, the Ayatollah, is dead.
01:33As to the families of these service members, you will always be in our hearts.
01:42The worst thing you can do, in my view, to a military member or a unit is to not finish
01:52the job.
01:53We can't let our enemies believe that we're unable to pay a price for our freedom and our security.
02:00So I know the fallen would want us to continue.
02:05I know their comrades are ready to get back in the fight.
02:10We'll never be safe if our enemies believe we cannot take casualties or risk.
02:17Finish this job.
02:19The Iranian people are our boots on the ground.
02:22We don't need any American soldiers in Iran.
02:24But President Trump's promise to provide help on the way to the protesters is now reality.
02:31Help is there.
02:33And I would encourage the Iranian people to take this moment and take their country back.
02:39As to us at home, in South Carolina, in America, we're much better, safer.
02:47We're much better off today.
02:48We're much safer than we were yesterday because the most evil man in the world, the Ayatollah,
02:55who is a religious Nazi, who wanted a nuclear weapon, not a power plant, to enact his religious
03:03agenda, is no longer with us.
03:05And his inner circle has been depleted.
03:08If the Ayatollah had a nuclear weapon, I know he would use it if he could to destroy Israel
03:14because in their faith, they must kill all the Jews.
03:17As a Christian, I'm an infidel in their world.
03:20I'd rather keep the problems over there so they don't come here.
03:24So the men and women who are serving overseas in the Mideast, you're a wall for our country.
03:30They have to get through you to get us and to us, and I know you won't let them.
03:36So this mission, Epic Fury, is designed to change the threat coming from Iran.
03:44No longer will we allow them to build missiles that can hit America.
03:49No longer are we going to allow them to have people in charge that want a nuclear weapon
03:53to blow up the world.
03:54No longer are we going to allow them to have people in charge who sponsor terrorism through
03:59Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis.
04:05Iran is the mothership of terrorism, and it is about to sink.
04:11So what do I see happening next?
04:13I think there will be pockets of Iran that will collapse.
04:17The regime will slowly but surely lose control in parts of the country, and over time, I think
04:23they will lose control of the entire country.
04:26My hope is that new people will come along that want to be friends of America, and we will
04:31certainly be their friend.
04:33If the next group comes along that wants to chant death to America, they will pay the same
04:38price.
04:39America first is not isolationism.
04:42It's not head in the sand.
04:44There are many people who play the game that the Aetola really doesn't exist, that he doesn't
04:49want to kill us, that there are real no threats justifying military action.
04:54This is what happened in World War II.
04:56You cannot ignore evil when it's on your doorstep.
05:01And in this world, being on your doorstep is different.
05:06They can hit us in many different ways.
05:09So I am hopeful that we will finish the job of Epic Fury, that we will continue to degrade
05:15the capability of the Iranians to project power against us, to destroy our friends in Israel, and to wreak havoc.
05:25My belief is when this regime falls and new people come along, that we're going to have an historic
05:33opportunity to do things in the Mideast that no one has dreamed of in a thousand years.
05:40That if the regime collapses, then I think the likelihood of Saudi Arabia, the center of
05:46Islam, the keeper of the Holy Mosque in Mecca and Medina, I've been there many times, is willing
05:52to recognize Israel, the Jewish state, which would be the effective end of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
05:59What does it matter to you?
06:00How much money have we spent and how many people have lost their lives because we get sucked into
06:05this conflict?
06:07The proxies of Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis have American blood on their hands.
06:15If the mothership falls, so do the proxies.
06:17So I'm cautiously optimistic we have a long way to go yet that we're on the verge of a
06:24new dawn, that there will be relationships formed after the regime collapses in Iran that
06:32nobody could have even dreamed of a year ago.
06:36President Trump did the right thing.
06:39President Trump saw the threats.
06:41They're trying to build ballistic missiles to hit our homeland.
06:46After Midnight Hammer, they went back to trying to create a nuclear weapon.
06:51They continue in Iran to fund proxies that attack American interest.
06:57I think he had all the legal authority he needs.
07:00I think he made the right call.
07:02He negotiated for months to no end.
07:05I met with him Thursday in the White House.
07:08He was frustrated that there was no movement by Iran.
07:11I told him, Mr. President, these people are religious Nazis.
07:15There's nothing you could do to convince Hitler not to want to kill all the Jews because he
07:20was crazy in that regard.
07:25This Ayatollah and his regime are religious fanatics.
07:29I don't know why they're that way, but they are.
07:32And if somebody threatens me and my family multiple times in over 47 years, tries to hurt
07:40me and my family, I'm going to do something about it.
07:43Every president talked about what they were going to do with Iran.
07:47Donald Trump did it.
07:49Every president talked about what they would do to Maduro and Venezuela, who was sending
07:53drugs to our country and poisoning America.
07:55Donald Trump did it.
07:57To the men and women of the military, I've never been more proud of you.
08:00But President Trump did something other people talked about.
08:04We've got a ways to go, but we're going to be safer when this thing is over.
08:08We're going to be stronger.
08:09I don't think the people in Iran are out in the streets to want to continue to chant death
08:15to America.
08:16I think they're celebrating the demise of the Ayatollah.
08:20Iran under the Ayatollah was a miserable place to live.
08:23A 16-year-old girl was taken off a bus and beaten to death for not wearing her headscarf
08:29the right way.
08:31The economy of Iran is in shambles.
08:33The people are wanting a better life.
08:36And it's in our interest to help them.
08:38No boosts on the ground, but help them.
08:41So three things have happened for the first time since 1979.
08:46The economy of Iran is in shambles.
08:49President Trump has isolated the economy.
08:52He puts tariffs on anybody that buys Iranian oil.
08:56Their military has been degraded dramatically because of what Israel has done and what we
09:02have done.
09:02Their military is in shambles.
09:05And the people are out in the streets demanding change.
09:09These three things have never occurred since 1979.
09:13And I applaud President Trump for understanding that when it comes to America first, we have
09:19to deal with threats before they get here.
09:23Questions?
09:25You spoke with His Rural Highness this morning, the exiled prince of Iran.
09:29Yes, I did.
09:30He said that he, or he's indicated that he's ready to lead a transitional government.
09:34Right.
09:34In your mind, Senator Graham, does that look something like constitutional monarchy in the
09:40future?
09:40Something like Britain with a parliamentary system or something that he would stay in
09:44an hour, but they would still have democracy take over it?
09:47Yeah.
09:48I talked to the crown prince of Iran today.
09:49You know, I grew up in Central.
09:51Sure.
09:51In the back of the liquor store.
09:52I never thought I'd be talking to the crown prince of Iran.
09:54But my day job is pretty special.
09:57I take my job seriously.
09:58Why do I go over there so much to make sure we're not hurt here?
10:01You know, those who want to ignore threats, you wind up paying a heavy price.
10:06We could have stopped Hitler a bunch.
10:08Nobody wanted to.
10:09Well, learn from them and learn from the past.
10:11So I talked to the crown prince.
10:13He's putting together some ideas about a transition.
10:16But I told him what I'll tell you.
10:19It's not my job to do this.
10:21It's the Iranian people's job.
10:23And I'd like to be helpful.
10:24I'd like to be a partner.
10:26But I don't know if he's the right man.
10:27That will be up to the Iranian people.
10:29I do know this, that the Ayatollah and his henchmen being in charge of Iran is a threat to you
10:34and your family.
10:36They really mean it when they say death to America.
10:38And we took that threat off the table today.
10:41We've got a ways to go.
10:43And if other people want to take over in Iran that chant death to America, they'll meet the same fate.
10:48As to the crown prince, I told him I wish him luck.
10:52I'd like to understand what his ideas are.
10:55But this process of changing Iran and creating a new Iran is an Iranian endeavor, not an American endeavor.
11:04Because this idea, if you break it, you own it.
11:07I never bought that.
11:09If there's a threat to America, deal with it.
11:11That doesn't mean you own everything that follows.
11:14I'm confident that the Iranian people are not out in the streets because they want more Ayatollah.
11:21I think they're out in the streets because they want a new life.
11:25How they put the new government together, what they do next, is up to them.
11:30I hope it's good for us.
11:32I believe it will be.
11:34But let me just say this.
11:36It's about the threats, not about who's in charge.
11:39If the next group in Iran continues to threaten America, they will meet the same fate.
11:45If the next group in Iran wants to be friends, then they will have a friend in America.
11:51I told the crown prince that.
11:53Here's what I can tell you about the crown prince.
11:56People like him want to be our friend.
11:59People like him reject the Ayatollah.
12:02So it will be up to a different, a wide group of Iranians, just not him, to figure out what's
12:10next.
12:11Here's what I can tell you.
12:12What's next is going to be better for us because the Iranians today are weaker than they were before.
12:20The terrorist machine, the mothership of terrorism is sinking.
12:26See, that mothership of terrorism has a hole in it, and it's going to the bottom, and the captain is
12:33dead, and we're better off.
12:34What comes next?
12:36I hope and pray it's better.
12:37I believe it will be.
12:38But I know this.
12:40Iran can't hurt us today like they could yesterday, and this operation was about taking those threats off the table.
12:47I will be glad to help to the extent I can, new people in Iran, but we're not going to
12:55own rebuilding Iran.
12:57That's up to the Iranians.
12:58We can be helpful, but it's their decision to make.
13:01This is not Iraq.
13:03This is not Germany.
13:05This is not Japan.
13:06Kamala Harris called this a war of choice.
13:09Any response to that?
13:10Yeah, I think the choice President Trump made was long overdue.
13:13He chose to confront evil rather than have his head in the sand.
13:19He chose to confront a regime that has American blood on its hands, that's been trying to build a nuclear
13:26weapon.
13:27Kamala Harris and Barack Obama empowered this regime.
13:31They gave it more money.
13:32What did they do with the money?
13:34They didn't build hospitals and roads.
13:36They tried to build a nuclear weapon.
13:38So we caught them.
13:41Midnight Hammer worked.
13:42They were well on our way to building a nuclear weapon with the money that Obama gave them.
13:47I am so glad Kamala Harris is not in the White House.
13:50If she were in the White House, the Ayatollah would be alive today, and terrorism in Iran would be growing
13:56and would be on the march.
13:58So to my Democratic friends, if you cannot understand and celebrate the fact that one of the most evil people
14:05on the planet is dead today, you've lost your way.
14:08When Obama took out bin Laden, I clapped.
14:11I applauded because it was good for America.
14:14It's the right thing to do.
14:15It was good for America to take this regime on before they get stronger.
14:19It was good for America to stand behind the people.
14:22So Kamala Harris is telling me she could give a damn about the future of the Iranian people.
14:27They've been asking for help, not boots on the ground.
14:30So Democrats today cannot embrace the fact that the world would be better off without the Ayatollah, that the world
14:38would be better off with the people of Iran having a second chance in life, a chance to design a
14:44new country.
14:45The hatred for Trump has gotten to be insane, I think.
14:49It was kind of on display this week at the State of the Union, I think, when President Trump gave
14:54those in attendance an option as to what their job duty entailed, I believe it was.
15:01Our Democratic friends have lost their way.
15:04It's not that we're perfect as Republicans.
15:07I can say this.
15:08When Joe Biden was president, I went to Saudi Arabia and Israel seven or eight times trying to help him
15:15normalize the two countries.
15:17If the center of Islam, Saudi Arabia, would ever recognize the Jewish state and say, you're welcome in the region,
15:26Jews can live here in peace, be the biggest change in a thousand years.
15:30I've tried to help President Biden do that.
15:33October the 7th was designed to stop that.
15:35All I'm asking Democrats is do what I did.
15:38Work with President Trump to make us safer.
15:40There's a moment in time here when this regime collapses to try to get Saudi Arabia and Israel back at
15:47the negotiating table.
15:48If we can ever end the Arab-Israeli conflict, it will be the biggest change in a thousand years and
15:53make us safer.
15:54I try to do it with Biden.
15:56I'm challenging my Democratic colleagues to work with me to build on what we did with Biden to see if
16:01we can, when the Iranian regime has been neutralized, start normalization all over again.
16:08It would be a big historic change.
16:11It would be good for America.
16:12It would be good for the world.
16:13To my Democratic colleagues, we have elections.
16:16If you don't like the way the government is shaped, you can have another election.
16:20But President Trump is the president.
16:23And he did, in my opinion, what was necessary.
16:26When she says it's a war of choice, I would argue that Ayatollah gave us no choice.
16:32That after months of negotiating, they told us to go to hell.
16:36They were not willing to change anything.
16:39They were not willing to abandon their nuclear enrichment program, which is a precondition to get a bomb.
16:45They were not willing to give up their missile program.
16:48President Trump, for months, tried to get a diplomatic solution.
16:51The choice was made by the Ayatollah to rebuff a diplomatic solution, to try to find a way to move
16:59forward peacefully.
17:00It was the Ayatollah's choice that led to his demise.
17:03And when I hear a Democratic lawmaker or leader suggest that Iran is blameless here, it just is upsetting and
17:16sad.
17:16That was kind of the back and forth of the U.N. yesterday, too.
17:19The U.N. as a body to make the world safer has become a joke.
17:26You know, I hate to say that.
17:27I try to support collaboration.
17:30But the U.N. has been taken over by anti-Israel forces.
17:34There have been more resolutions condemning the state of Israel in the U.N.
17:38than every other country in the world combined.
17:42It's a cesspool of anti-Semitism, anti-Americanism.
17:46We cannot let the U.N. tell us what to do, and we're not.
17:49Donald Trump is not looking to be patted on the back by the United Nations, nor am I.
17:55Senator Graham, what does victory look like in this conflict?
17:59Huh?
17:59What does victory look like in this conflict?
18:01Victory looks like a bloodthirsty Ayatollah who is no longer in charge,
18:08no longer has the capability to build missiles to hit America,
18:12no longer has the capability to build a nuclear weapon,
18:16no longer can fund international terrorism.
18:21Victory, to me, is changing the threat.
18:25It's up to the Iranians to pick new leaders.
18:28But victory, to me, is taking off the table
18:31the ability of the Ayatollah and his henchmen to destroy Israel, destroy us.
18:37And we are very close to accomplishing that.
18:41The ultimate victory is if the Ayatollah falls and Saudi Arabia and Israel can make peace.
18:49That would be the biggest change in a thousand years.
18:51And I want to say this.
18:53If Saudi Arabia and Israel do normalize after the Ayatollah falls,
18:59President Trump will have entered rarefied error.
19:03I think he now is the gold standard in terms of Republican presidents, other than Lincoln.
19:10I think he has surpassed Reagan, and I love Ronald Reagan.
19:14What President Trump has done with Venezuela, what he's going to do with Cuba,
19:18and what he's in the process of doing with Iran is historic in a single year.
19:23So Donald J. Trump, in my view, is now the gold standard for foreign policy.
19:27I appreciate his leadership, his courage.
19:30And at the end of the day, if we do have peace between Saudi Arabia and Israel,
19:37ending the Arab-Israeli conflict, it will be because of what President Trump did in Iran.
19:42And who is prepared to take power in Iran?
19:45Huh?
19:46Who is prepared to take power in Iran?
19:48And how do we know that it's going to be a stable government?
19:52I can't tell you what's going to happen exactly,
19:55and I can't tell you what's going to happen in our election,
19:57but I can tell you this, the Ayatollah's not going to hurt you.
20:01He's dead.
20:02He should have been dead a long time ago.
20:05Everybody complained about the Ayatollah.
20:06Donald Trump did something about it.
20:08Everybody complained about Maduro.
20:09Donald Trump did something about it.
20:11Here's what I can tell you.
20:12The Iranian people are going to wake up in the coming days
20:16without being oppressed like they were in the past.
20:19They're literally out in the streets.
20:20I can tell you what would happen if he stayed in power.
20:23If he stayed in power, he would eventually get a nuclear weapon.
20:26If he stayed in power, he'd keep building missiles to hit us.
20:30If he stayed in power, he'd continue to fund international terrorism.
20:33That was certain.
20:35If you don't get, the man was a religious Nazi
20:38and was never going to change his way, you have your head in the sand.
20:41So that's what you have to do as president.
20:43That's what you have to do as senator.
20:44You have to deal with the world as it is.
20:47You can't wish things away.
20:49The Ayatollah was not going to change.
20:51He had months to negotiate.
20:53He was unwilling to give up anything that could hurt us.
20:57He's the reason he's dead.
20:59He refused to be reasonable.
21:02And Donald Trump has had enough with this stuff.
21:05So here's what I think is going to happen to Ron.
21:07I think the people are going to have a say they never had.
21:10I wish them well.
21:11I hope they choose wisely.
21:13If they choose somebody that wants to do business with us,
21:16like the crown prince, we'll be their best friend.
21:18If they choose somebody else who wants to chant death to America,
21:22they will suffer the same fate.
21:24I don't believe they will.
21:25I don't think 30,000 people have died to make the country worse.
21:30So when I hear this, that's an excuse to do nothing.
21:34The people who asked these questions had a chance to do something.
21:37They did nothing.
21:38So here's what the most important thing to me.
21:41The threat in Iran to America is less today than it was yesterday.
21:46It's going to be less tomorrow than it was today.
21:49And that's the goal of America First,
21:52is to take the threats off the table and replace them with opportunities.
21:58If we had left this Ayatollah in power,
22:01if he was still in power after killing 30,000 people,
22:05if he were still in power after all the threats made against him,
22:09we would be weak all over the world.
22:11China would take Taiwan.
22:13Nobody would align with us.
22:15It would have been a disaster.
22:17America would have been alone.
22:19When you take these bad guys on, like Reagan and Trump,
22:23you've got to finish the job.
22:24To my Democratic friends,
22:26we know what you're capable of doing when you're in charge.
22:30Everything got worse.
22:31You withdrew from Afghanistan.
22:33Look what happened.
22:34You gave the Ayatollah a bunch of money.
22:36Look what happened.
22:37So, your model of protecting America doesn't work.
22:42I am all in with Donald J. Trump's model.
22:44No entanglement.
22:46We don't have troops on the ground.
22:47We're not invading Iran.
22:49But the bad guy is gone,
22:51and we hope better people come along,
22:53and I think they will.
22:54But if they don't, we'll deal with them too.
22:57What is Congress doing about this War Powers Resolution?
23:00Okay.
23:01Number one, President Trump is Commander-in-Chief.
23:05And how is this going to affect the outcome?
23:06None.
23:07Zero.
23:08Zip.
23:09I'm going to oppose.
23:10You can't have 535 Commander-in-Chiefs.
23:14The War Powers Act would have the Congress become Commander-in-Chief after 60 days.
23:19Well, John Fetterman said he's crossing party lines.
23:22He's going to vote with Republicans.
23:23John Fetterman is what America used to be,
23:27people doing what's best for the country, regardless of party.
23:31I worked with Joe Biden for years to try to deal with Saudi Arabia and Israel, right?
23:39Not because I agreed with Joe Biden.
23:41I didn't agree with much of anything he wanted to do.
23:44But it was my job to help him make America safer.
23:49What is Fetterman doing?
23:50He's trying to help Donald Trump.
23:53He's trying to be helpful to Donald Trump.
23:55The idea that Congress becomes the Commander-in-Chief, that you let 535 of us make military decisions,
24:02it would destroy the country.
24:05We couldn't act.
24:06It would be a great disservice to the men and women in the uniform.
24:09We need a single Commander-in-Chief under the Constitution, not 535.
24:13And that Commander-in-Chief needs to be held accountable for their actions.
24:17So not only will I oppose the War Powers Resolution,
24:21I will fight to my political death to make sure America is not run by 535 Commander-in-Chiefs.
24:28Whether you like Trump or not, he has the power to do it.
24:31They tried to limit Obama's ability.
24:35I oppose that.
24:36He had the ability to go into Syria.
24:38He's Commander-in-Chief.
24:39Only Congress can declare war.
24:41We've had hundreds of military operations where there was no congressional approval.
24:47The norm is that.
24:49What's unusual is for Congress to come in and get involved.
24:52We've declared war five times in the history of the country.
24:56That doesn't mean you can't use military force without a declaration of war.
25:00So this effort to tie Trump's hands, I'm going to oppose it,
25:05just like I opposed it when they did it with Obama and Biden.
25:08What are you hearing from the other Arab nations about that?
25:11So the biggest news coming since this morning is that I think the Arabs are going to join the fight.
25:16I think the biggest mistake Iran made is attack their Arab neighbors.
25:20They've been attacking the Arab neighbors.
25:22They've been hitting airports.
25:23They've been hitting civilian infrastructure.
25:24I think you're going to see a coalition between the United States and the Arab world
25:29to take on the Iranian regime, which would be breathtaking.
25:34The fact that we're going to work together potentially with the Arabs to liberate the Iranian people is unbelievable.
25:42I think that is coming.
25:44I think in the coming days, you're going to see joint efforts between the Arab world and President Trump
25:50to eliminate the threat coming from Iran.
25:52The Arabs want to have an Iran they can live with.
25:56They want to have an Iran that would be a good neighbor.
25:59Nobody suffered from the Ayatollah more than the Iranian people and the Arab neighbors.
26:05He's been undercutting, undermining the region since 1979.
26:09Their goal is to destroy Islam as it exists and reshape it in their own image.
26:17His goal is to take Saudi Arabia off the table and that he, the Ayatollah, would be the keeper of
26:23the Holy Mosque.
26:24These are religious fanatics.
26:25So you're going to see in the coming days here a coalition of Arabs in the United States working together,
26:32something nobody could imagine even a week ago.
26:34I mean, a week ago, I didn't even imagine this.
26:38This is breathtaking.
26:39It's going to be positive.
26:41Next week, the clocks are going to spring forward.
26:44How close is Congress to ending the insanity of changing the time twice a year?
26:49We're sick of it.
26:51I'm glad the Ayatollah is dead, and I wish we would do away with this ping pong of clocks.
26:58Yes.
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