Lindsey Graham Scolded For Senate Outburst At Maggie Hassan

Sen. Lindsey Graham   (R-S.C.) got a rare reprimand for failing to follow the Senate’s decorum rules after he attacked Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) over a voting tactic early Sunday, The Hill reported .

Graham directly addressed Hassan, calling her actions “deceitful” and “dishonest,” during a debate on repealing a tax on foreign oil.

“This gives phony and cynical a bad name,” Graham snapped in a video shared by Forbes. (Watch it below.)  “They wouldn’t let you do this in professional wrestling. If you think people are this dumb, you are gonna be sadly mistaken.”

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), the presiding officer, called out Graham for attacking the motives of a fellow senator and for directly addressing Hassan instead of through the chair and with third-person references.

Murphy reminded Graham and all senators not to “impute to another senator or other senators any conduct or motive unworthy or unbecoming of a senator,” according to The Hill

Hassan, along with 49 other Democratic senators, voted against Graham’s proposal to remove a tax on foreign oil, then proposed a similar amendment that required more votes and would never have gotten enough support, even with Hassan and a few Democrats joining all the Republican senators.

“What she’s doing is trying to strike the provisions that she just voted against but it requires 60 votes,” Graham griped, per NH Journal . “So she can vote for repealing a gas tax she just voted against so she’ll look good for the voters. If you really wanted to repeal the gas tax, the new one indexed to inflation, you should have voted for my amendment,” Graham said.

“What you’re doing is deceitful, it’s dishonest, and we’re gonna call you out!” he continued. Boos erupted in the chamber. 

“The senators are reminded to address each other through the chair and in the third person,” Murphy said, warning the lawmakers “to address all remarks through the chair in the third person and to be mindful of Rule 19,” he added.

Graham “settled down” after being admonished, The Hill noted.