Lindsey Graham Defends Trump’s ‘Catch-and-Kill’ Hush Payments, Argues Schwarzenegger and Tiger Woods Killed Stories Too

April 28, 2024 @ 10:48 AM

Sen. Lindsey Graham delivered an unexpected defense of Donald Trump on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday morning. After he was asked about former American Media CEO David Pecker’s testimony that the National Enquirer carried out a “catch-and-kill” media plan against Trump’s political rivals, Graham said that “apparently a lot of people do this” and offered two examples: “Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tiger Woods.”

“No, I think the whole thing is a crock,” Graham added, an apparent reference to Trump’s hush-money trial in New York. “The statute of limitations has long shut out the misdemeanor cases. So this liberal prosecutor in Manhattan came up with a federal campaign violation that the state of New York, the Southern District of New York, looked at.”

“The federal election commission looked at,” Graham continued. “Jack Smith looked at and decided not to prosecute. Alvin Bragg took a case that was rejected by the federal government to resurrect these misdemeanors. I think it’s a political hit job on Trump six months before the election. That’s what I think.”

“All right,” Bash responded, before adding, “Obviously, Tiger Woods is not running for president, at least not yet—”

“— I think the whole thing’s BS,” Graham added, before he affirmed that he will “absolutely” support and vote for Trump even if he is convicted in any of the four court cases he currently faces.

In court this past week, the National Enquirer’s David Pecker detailed “catch-and-kill” approaches to stories for Schwarzenegger, Woods and Mark Wahlberg. For Schwarzenegger, that meant paying out hundreds of thousands of dollars for stories before and during his run for governor. That included dozens of women alleging they had relationships with or were sexually harassed by Schwarzenegger.

“I think what’s going on with Donald Trump is weaponization of the law,” Graham said. “He’s been prosecuted in Manhattan, one of the deepest blue cities in the country. Georgia and Fulton County. Jack Smith is going after Trump, but Clinton and Biden— anyway, I think most people have written this off.”

“They’re going to focus on their problems, not a bunch of cases brought by liberals against Trump.”

Watch the interview with Sen. Lindsey Graham in the video above.