Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) urged for the swift confirmation of President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees on Sunday, telling Fox News that the country was “at war” while criticizing immigration policies.
Graham emphasized that all of Trump’s picks should be confirmed by the end of the month, or at the latest, by February, during an interview on Sunday Morning Futures.
After discussing national security with anchor Maria Bartiromo, Senator Lindsey Graham emphasized that any delay in securing the border “equals danger.”
Bartiromo pointed out that over the weekend, Trump met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at Mar-a-Lago, suggesting that they likely discussed the “threats” posed by mass migration, highlighting the shared concerns over border security.
She asked Graham: “What are what are your thoughts here in terms of the terrorism element and getting President Trump’s national security team in place? Do you have confidence that all of his Cabinet nominees will be confirmed?”
“Yeah, I do. And I want to do them sooner rather than later,” Graham began in response.
“When President Trump left office, we had the most secure border in American history. The caliphate was destroyed. ISIS was destroyed, and Iran was in a box, we killed Suleimani, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard leader,” he added.
“The last four years have been a friggin’ disaster. They roll back every policy that worked on the border. They went back into the Iran nuclear agreement, giving the ayatollah hundreds of millions of dollars to use for terrorism,” he said.
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At that point, Bartiromo cut in to ask about the pace of confirming Trump’s Cabinet picks.
“Do them quick. Get them all done in January – February. We need our team on the field. We need an FBI director. We need an attorney general. We need them all. Get it done. We’ve got to get it done. We’re under attack here. We’re at war,” Graham responded, adding that he planned to vote for all of Trump’s candidates.
“Let’s get it done! We’re under siege here,” he added.
Graham’s responses come amid two New Year’s Day attacks, one in New Orleans and one in front of Trump Tower in Las Vegas. The New Orleans incident is being investigated as a case of home-grown terrorism involving a U.S. citizen and U.S. Army veteran from Texas in which he mowed down revelers with a pickup truck, killing 15 and wounding dozens more.
The incident in Vegas, meanwhile, involved smallish fireworks-type explosions placed inside a Tesla Cybertruck, causing little damage but injuring seven persons who were close by.
Trump, meanwhile, continues to build out his team quickly. He announced Friday night his decision to appoint Tammy Bruce, a longtime Fox News contributor, as the next spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State.
Bruce has been a prominent pro-Trump voice on the network, appearing both during the day and in primetime. Trump praised her political insight in a statement shared on his Truth Social account, congratulating her on the appointment and highlighting her expertise.
“It is my great honor to announce that Tammy Bruce will be joining our incredible Nominee for United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, as Spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State,” Trump said in a statement.
“Tammy is a highly respected political analyst who understood the power and importance of ‘MAGA’ early on. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science at the University of Southern California and, after being a liberal activist in the 1990s, saw the lies and fraud of the Radical Left, and quickly became one of the strongest Conservative voices on Radio and Television,” he added.
“As one of the longest serving News Contributors, Tammy has brought TRUTH to the American People for over two decades. I know she will bring that same strength of conviction and fearless spirit to her new position as State Department Spokesperson,” Trump said, adding: “Congratulations Tammy!”
