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- [00:00]
A
Iran has declared the Strait of Hormuz closed. Is that true, Mr. President?
- [00:05]
B
It's open as far as we're concerned. Don't talk about it. Talk about the reason that you asked me to speak.
- [00:11]
A
Okay, we appreciate your time, sir. Before I let you go, is there any other final word that you want the American people to know about Lindsey Graham? What was it about?
- [00:18]
B
I think his finest moment was his defense of Brett Kavanaugh, who's a terrific guy and was treated very, very unfairly by the Democrats. Very unfairly. I've never seen anything like it. Maybe the worst I've ever seen anyone treated that include.
- [00:32]
A
Well, I know you don't want to talk about any other issues out of respect for Lindsey Graham, but we would love to have you back sometime because I do have a lot of other questions for you, sir.
- [00:41]
B
Sure, we'll do that. We'll do that.
- [00:43]
A
Thank you for calling.
- [00:43]
B
I'm trying to have CNN go in a normal path, and we'll do that.
- [00:48]
A
Well, I'm on a normal path right here, sir, and I appreciate your time and thank you for calling in.
- [00:52]
C
You want the truth? Senator Lindsey Graham. His life is death. It's a Rorschach test. You see what you want to see. But I think there's some things everybody should be seeing. First of all, this example, and it wasn't just cnn, but, man, I mean, and this goes to Lindsey Graham also. You gotta stop kissing Trump's ass just for clicks, okay? I mean, come on. NBC is better than this. CNN is better than this. That I know NBC is debatable because their Sunday host and I. Look, you'll defend her. She's a woman. She's a woman of color. She's this, she's that. And look, I'm fine with all of it. I believe diversity is our strength. But her interviews with the President, I think are pathetic. And it's just about the ratings. And you can say, oh, you're jealous. Oh, I'm jealous of the Access. I'm not jealous of the performance. And you have the right to say that I stink at what I do. And I have the right to say that. I may, but I'm a lot better than her and these other people that interview the president. And that's what I believe. And I have a right to believe it.
- [02:06]
B
Right?
- [02:07]
C
And what we see here is everything that's wrong. Senator Graham's political life and the way it's being processed and how the media is behaving about it and how the politicians are. All of it is what is is wrong, and nobody wants to say it. So here it is for Jake Tapper to sit there like a simpering, lisping, you know, sycophant. I arrive, more questions. I'm the normal one. I'm on a normal path. I mean, it's, you know, when he talks about the president, you know, he's trying to be a tough guy, and when he's talking to him, he's a sycophant because he wants the ratings and he wants the access, and that's the reality of media. Okay, I won't make that deal. Why? I don't have to. Okay? The ratings bump doesn't really matter that much, and it's not worth what comes with it. Okay? We're here to test power. You do it to their face and you do it to their back. Okay? You should just be consistent, and we're not, because everybody's just going for what's good in the moment. And if you think that the answer to that is independent media, it's worse. They're all about the clicks. They're all about making advantage and making viral moments and getting paid. Okay? It's way worse than it is with the mainstream media. Now, am I generalizing? Of course I'm generalizing about the mainstream media, because there are good and not so good, and obviously that's true. Also within independent media, there are good and not so good. Okay? I am wearing this. Why? Because I can in independent media.
- [03:43]
B
All right?
- [03:43]
C
I can't if I'm working for another brand. They don't want me selling things. But I believe in branding, our independence and being free agents. Okay? Fix America first. And the reason I believe in this is exactly why I also believe Lindsey Graham deserves a lot of criticism. And I'll tell you what, to have a president come on and kiss his ass, which is fine. Everybody's kissing the president's ass a little bit. Every president. Anybody who says I would have told him, I would have said it to his face. And yeah, yeah, yeah. When you're sitting across from the most powerful man on the. In the universe, you're going to be a little bit different than you think you are. Now, I can say that and still criticize how people do it because I've been in the position. You see what I'm saying? I've interviewed multiple presidents, so I know how I am and how I'm not going to be. And I do have the right to judge, and my pedigree and my profession and my experience give me that right. So for the President to say, oh, he was really into the SAVE Act. Really? You think Lindsey Graham got off that long ass flight from Ukraine to talk about the SAVE Act? Bullshit. Why? Lindsey Graham was a smart guy and a smart lawyer.
- [04:53]
A
Okay?
- [04:54]
C
The SAVE act is problematic. Why? Because it's not just about giving everybody an id. Because one, you're going to have to go get it. And it's definitely going to disenfranchise people. And not for good reason. We don't have an illegal voting problem. Okay? We don't. And it also gets rid of mail in ballots, which is just a mechanism not to deal with fraud because we don't have a mail in ballot fraud problem. Okay? There's plenty of fraud issues. This ain't one of them. Okay? And for the President to say that he's making Senator Graham's death political, so you shouldn't get a pass on talking politics cuz you're making it about politics. Welcome to the Chris Cuomo Project. I'm Chris Cuomo. Now let's get after it. Now, to Senator Graham specifically. Okay? Senator Lindsey Graham is an example, one of the most striking examples of how inconsistent and cynical the political game has become. Yes, his life and death are a Rorschach test. I guess it is for me also. But I can separate the good and the bad and they both matter. I think he has an extraordinary American story. Losing both his parents, by the way, his father, to heart disease. I don't buy any of the bullshit about Russia and the idea that it's coming from the right when they keep giving Putin a pass and letting this President pander to him. But now they want to pretend they have some conspiracy again, it click, click,
- [06:29]
B
click, click, click, click.
- [06:30]
C
It's totally irresponsible. They're full of shit, okay? The guy had a perforated aorta. It's something I know a lot about. And it created a widowmaker effect. He should have gone to the emergency room. This could have been avoided. But there is no suggestion of anything else. Again, Rorschach test. You want to see a conspiracy? You'll see one because you're an idiot. Okay? So what I see is an amazing life story. Losing both his parents, young, in his 20s, still going to university, helping to raise his sister, getting his law degree, going into the Air Force, going into JAG serving. Well, brilliant lawyer, going in the public service, winning again and again and again. Long tenure within the Senate, you know, legit exposure during the presidential primary. Acquitted himself well, until he didn't. Okay? But the flip Flopping back and forth is proof not that he is the worst as a player, but that the game is so toxic and disgusting and that the way Lindsey Graham played it is the way it gets played to win. And that's what is disgusting. And I think that his political legacy is both that he distinguished himself in terms of what he was able to endure and achieve, but also what he demonstrated about how disgusting our politics is and what it takes to get ahead. And I want to take you through it, okay? The personal stuff, it is what it is. I just told you. You can Google if you want more. But the political evolution or devolution as I see it. So 2015, 2016, Lindsey Graham got attention. Why? Because he was one of the best attackers of Donald Trump. Not as a politician, not as a policy person, okay? As a human. That's what Lindsey Graham did. He called Trump a race baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot jackass. If we nominate Trump, we'll be. We'll get destroyed and we will deserve it. Unfit for office. A campaign built on fear and prejudice. Now, here's the problem. Lindsey Graham never said he was wrong about Trump. He just said he saw other parts of him. Why? Because he's a fucking hypocrite. And I'm sorry for his loved ones and the people who celebrated his existence, that they are dealing with his loss, but the man was a hypocrite. I do not believe you can look at him and say that he was philosophically unless his philosophy was just advantage. But there's no virtue in that. There's no virtue in what he did. Because if you believe that someone is a bigot, okay, a hateful person filled with prejudice, who's trying to scare people, that's the end of the assessment. He's also good at golf. He also cracks a good joke does not offset that in your life or in mine. Nor should it. Okay, Well, I think he likes to touch underage girls or boys, but, you know, he also throws a hell of a party. Not a thing for normal people, for good people, okay? This is not what a good people does, okay? Support for the Chris Cuomo project comes from Irestore. Look, I dig technology. I think it makes a difference for your health. I think with skin care it works. I think with hair care, it can work. LED technology, okay, is well established within the scientific community. Is it a miracle cure? No. Does it work? Yes, it can. And that's why Irestore uses it both with its helmet. The elite that it uses, that I use to help with your Hair and follicles. It also works with the new sculpt LED belt that you can put on and it helps contour targeted areas and it supports firmer looking skin. And I think it can work. Why? Because I am using the helmet and I believe that my hair is not getting any thinner. I mean, look, you know, you can only do so much to offset time, but I think what you can do is getting more impressive and I think Irestore is a big reason for that. Using Advanced triple wave LED technology, 1260 medical grade LEDs, the Sculpt LED belt supports body contouring, smoother looking skin, circulation, many different benefits. All right, if you want to do everything you can, wellness is a luxury. Okay? I'm not saying this stuff is cheap, but I'm saying not doing it can get very expensive as well. Summer is the perfect time to upgrade your self care routine and Irestore is offering huge discounts on their new sculpt LED belt. Bring body focused light therapy into your routine, support a more sculpted look and feel more confident in your skin, all from the comfort of home. Just head to irestore.com and use the code CUOMO. That's cuomoirestore.com Please support our show and tell them we sent you. So Trump wins. Now his tone changes. Okay, now look, I get that the guy who beats you, now you got to figure out how to work with him. I get it. But that's not what Graham did, okay? Graham saw an ability. He wasn't just the Trump whisperer. What he found a way to do was to make personal advantage out of kissing up to a guy who he had said is a piece of shit. And I think that that is a really big problem and it should be remembered in his death. Why? Because it should be something that we do not reward and we do not celebrate and we do not encourage to ever happen again. Rather than remaining one of Trump's conservative critics, he became one of his closest allies. He defended Trump during controversies, golfed with him, praised the judicial appointments, and became one of the President's most reliable defenders on television. Now, look, some of that is fine and consistent. The jurists, especially the positions he agreed with especially. But he defended Trump and things that he attacked him for during the campaign. And that is a hypocrisy, and he knew it. I like President Trump. So you like bigots? So you like bigots? You like people who tries to make the American people hate an entire religion. You like people like that. And I know he's dead, and I don't want to disrespect his memory, but this is a part of his memory, and we should remember it and we should reject it. Do you understand? And I wonder if Senator Graham, had he an opportunity at the end to make his witness about what he wanted people to know and to think, I don't know how much time he would have spent on Donald Trump. Hopefully not much, if any at all. But he would have wanted people to understand where he was coming from on this in a way to somehow make it okay. Because it was not okay the way we see it and understand it being all in for Trump's agenda. I get it. I get the policy side. That's not my beef. I disagree with the policies, but I don't have any problem with you being consistent on that. But look, you see that when it matters, and it's not just about policy, it's not about taxes, it's not about foreign intervention. And by the way, Senator Graham, you know, this is part of his legacy that I don't really care about dissecting in real time after he has died, in a way that is very unfortunate and unnecessary and a reminder to all of us, you better get checked. You better be aware, if you're over 40 years old, of what's going on in your body, if you have the luxury, which should be a right, but whatever the luxury of having access to good health care, you better make sure, you know, because you've got to have the data, you've got to look at your blood, and you got to take care of yourself. And when something like this happens, you run your ass to the emergency room and it will be avoided. This is a shame. It didn't have to happen now. Then came January 6th. Okay, January 6th, to me, had to be a line in the sand. Had to be a no way, no way. This is okay. And no way Trump is going to get away, in my estimation, with what he did to bring this about. No way. And you know who got that and felt that way? Senator Lindsey Graham. Okay. Senator Lindsey Graham. In the immediate aftermath, okay, when it looked like Trump wouldn't survive it, okay, he said on the floor of the Senate that a really good speech. Count me out. Enough is enough. All I can say is count me out. Enough is enough. I've tried to be helpful. Trump and I have had a hell of a journey, but this is it. It's too much. Within weeks, when it became clear that Trump was not done because of it, okay, he was back kissing his ass, defending him, defending him about what he knew Trump had done that was wrong, that was dangerous. Okay. That he knew he then attacked. And not just as a lawyer. Okay. He was a very talented practitioner of the law, a very good litigator. No question about that. And, of course, you can debate the legalities and the facts and the rationales of the impeachments. The second impeachment specifically is the one I'm talking about after January 6th. Of course. And by the way, I do not disagree that Senator Graham had a right and was right about some of the criticisms, that he was right that Prosecuting Trump after January 6th was not going to be helpful to the country. I agree with that. Why? Because you were never going to remove him. If you were never going to remove him, then what was the purpose of the process? Well, it was standing on principle. Nobody cares about you standing on your principle in that moment. You don't move the needle on that. You didn't bring the country together. Oh, well, you have to make your witness for the record, and I don't believe that. I think that's bullshit. I think they did it because they thought it was good for them to attack him, but they knew it wasn't going to be good for the country overall because they knew they weren't going to remove him. I'm not saying that what Trump did wasn't worthy of that scrutiny, but you have to be practical about it. And you know who says that? Every prosecutor, when they make a determination about what to prosecute and what not to prosecute. You know, we have this illusion that, well, if you do the crime, do the time, do the crime, do the time. No, it's not how it works. They have prosecutorial discretion. They decide how strong a case is this, what kind of policy interest does it serve, how likely is it that I win, and is it worth what it's going to take for me to win? And, I mean, they have a lot of considerations. Okay? So 2015, 2016, Trump is a dangerous demagogue. 2017 to 2020, Trump is successful, and he should have loyalty. 2021, after January 6th, enough is enough. Weeks later, he deserves our support. That is the game. See the game. It is dirty, it is deceptive, and it is disgusting. And Senator Graham played it out with a dead look in your eye that he wanted you to know exactly what he was doing and why he was doing it. Okay? And regardless of where you fall politically, just the public record on what Senator Lindsey Graham said and did, where Trump is involved is an example of what has to change in our politics. You cannot have people in office as long as Lindsey Graham was, you know, let alone as long as he was, who believe in nothing that matters except his own advantage and access to power. It just will never get us to a better place. Never. And that's why I come after him, even in death, because this must be remembered. Don't do what he did. Two levels. One, if you feel pain in your chest and you know you may have a condition involving your aorta and blood pressure, get your ass to the emergency room. I would have rather had Senator Lindsey Graham in Senate so that I can make this point and bang on him as an example of that kind of political perfidy. Then they have to make the case in the aftermath of his death. I regret these circumstances, but I'm not going to ignore them either. And the second is, this is a cautionary tale. Do not be like him. The attention you will get, the access you will get will not be worth it. Support for the Chris Cuomo project comes from Soul. Look, booze doesn't work for me, okay? I still drink every once in a while. Social occasions, you know, a special moment, that kind of thing. But as a brain, vacation, doesn't work. I believe hemp derived THC gummies is a much better choice for me. The CBD THC combinations, I think they're better for your brain, I think they're better for your body. Yeah, yeah, I get a little bit bingy, but that's probably just about as much about me as it is about anything I've taken. But Soul puts out really good products. All right? Soul is a wellness brand that makes delicious hemp derived THC and CBD products designed to make feeling good simple. Soul's new mood gummies have precise dosing, clean ingredients, and formulations designed for predictable effects so you can choose how you want to feel while staying in control. And look, I use the. I don't know what the right adjective is, but like, the lightest, whatever. The weakest, you know, the smallest dosage that they have, which is called the uplift. And it's plenty for me, but, you know, it's just 3 milligrams of Teva, THC and CBG. But for me, it's like, that's it. It's like a two drink buzz. I take it. It kicks in pretty fast. It lasts a long time and I'm getting that. The way I suggest it to people is, you know how, like, you have all those windows open on your phone, all those different applications, and you got to go through every once In a while because the phone starts to slow down, the battery starts to die, and you got to close a lot of them. That's what I see this as, is that it helps me close a lot of those windows. So make today a good day and get yourself some Seoul gummies. Right now, Seoul is offering my audience 30% off your entire order. That is such. Go to GetSoul.com and use the code CUOMO and you'll get 30% off. GetSoul.com promo code CUOMO, 30% off. Lindsey Graham was absolutely fundamental in a couple of really toxic dynamics, okay? Dangerous ones, okay? Now I'm going to do them in order of my personal significance of least dangerous to most dangerous. Least dangerous Ukraine. Why? Because Russia started it and Russia's a bad guy, okay? Russia's a bad guy all day, every day, okay? Bad guy. Why? Putin is Russia and Putin sucks. He's a bad guy. He's a despot, he's a killer, okay? Full stop. Trump is deferential to him, in my opinion. He is soft on him, I think, objectively. Oh, what about the sanctions? The sanctions don't matter to him. I mean, it's like saying the sanctions on the regime, they don't care about money, they don't care about their people. They care about themselves and their power. That's it. Same thing with ccp. Only in America do you really hurt somebody by going after the American people because they're. This government is about we the people. And eventually there will be accountability. Is it perfect? Of course not. Is it good enough? Not even close. But eventually we're going to get you. Okay? So with Ukraine, I have the least problem with him making the case that America should absolutely be involved in fighting back Russia. I think we should have given them a lot more weaponry a lot sooner and this would have ended a lot sooner. Scared money never wins. If you're gonna go, go, okay, have a plan, all right? But this is different because we were never gonna go go like with us in there. So in terms of giving them things, I think that you should be more heavy handed. All right? In terms of you having boots on the ground, that's a very different assessment. Okay? Second, the Iran war. We are not in Iran right now without Lindsey Graham's influence. I honestly believe that all my reporting reflects the same. Now, look, I'm not saying that he told Trump to do it and Trump said yes. I believe that Donald Trump does what he thinks is good for him. And I think that in the development of what he thinks is good for him, he is recklessly reliant on the wrong people at the wrong times. And he is very susceptible to the recency effect as opposed to the primacy effect. Have you ever heard of this? Primacy and recency? The first thing you hear, primacy, the thing you hear closest to when you act, recency. And each can be an issue or they can be innocuous and they can just be instructive of a process. But I think that Donald Trump, it's not the first thing he hears, it's the last thing he hears that has the biggest impact on him. Who talked to him most recently? And I think Lindsey Graham is one of the people who told Donald Trump, you can have another Venezuela here. It's a great distraction. It's a show of strength. It's something nobody else could get done. You're going to get it done. We're going to be done in three days and yada, yada, yada, he was one of them. Bibi Netanyahu was another one. I'll get to him in a second. But this war in Iran, I know what they're trying to tell you, and it's working on way too many of you. And I see it in the poll numbers. And it's not just blind maga obeisance, although that's part of it. You honestly believe that something had to be done to stop Iran. Okay. But somehow you conflate that with what was done here. Something doesn't have to be the wrong thing. Okay. And this was obviously the wrong thing.
- [26:31]
A
Why?
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C
Because by every measure, this is worse. That's not true. We reduce their capabilities, their long. Their ability to reach out and touch in the region. And their nuclear program has been retarded at a minimum. And much of their leadership has been taken out. Okay, those are all facts? More or less. Yes. Now let's analyze them. You took out leadership. Yes. You took out Khomeini. Yes. Are you in a better position now because of that? No. Well, there is this internal struggle between the IRGC and. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. They're with you just like the last guys did. So that's my analysis on that fact. Their ability to reach out and touch. Then why are they still doing it? So you reduce their capabilities. You didn't remove them. You didn't obliterate shit. Okay. Except the Pentagon budget.
- [27:29]
B
Right.
- [27:29]
C
Because you spent like, all the money. And now they say they're desperate for money, even though you've given them more money than anybody's given them recently. And they're asking for like, Multiples of that. And you think that that's more important than all of these domestic Fix America first priorities that you were supposed to have, that you campaigned on, to not do what you're doing right now and do something else, which you haven't done, which has made things worse at home. Fix America first is the best way to win the midterms, and rightfully so. So you are not in a position where you have destroyed their ability to reach out and touch people in the region. You have reduced it in ways that they can rebuild and redevelop and repurchase, and they were doing each and all of those things. Next, the nukes. It was supposed to be all about the nukes, right? You lied and said there was an imminent threat of them developing a nuclear weapon. That is not true. Says who? The iaea. Who else? US Intelligence. What are we talking about here then? What are we talking about? That if people are going to tell you that the President had real information that they were going to. You don't think that Trump would have US Intelligence echoing that, really? Knowing what a beating he's taking on this war. You don't think that they'd be out there. You wouldn't be seeing the CIA and the fba. You wouldn't be seeing Cash Patel saying, yeah, we definitely. Come on. Come on. Well, Ratcliffe said that. Ratcliffe came out. No, he didn't. No, he didn't. No, he didn't. That's just a lie. Google it for yourself. Okay. No, he didn't. He didn't say that. Nobody said it. So you didn't have an imminency. You didn't have a coalition and you didn't have a strategy. And that's why the Strait of Hormuz is now all jammed up, because it's not on the Pentagon. They presented you with many scenarios that showed that the Strait of Hormuz would be in play. And the politicians in the White House around the President and then he himself, and I think Lindsey Graham was one of them, underplayed the significance of the Strait of Hormuz and what might happen. So it's not on the military, it's on the politicians. It's on Trump. And Lindsey Graham had a very heavy hand in where we are in Iran. And where we are in Iran sucks. Okay, now next and most important and most destructive, Lindsey Graham is part of the cabal on the right that has worked together. I won't say conspired, because that makes it sound like it's illegal. And I don't think that at all to empower Bibi Netanyahu, empower his narrative, empower his influence. And they have helped submarine the opinion of Israel in America and around the world, by the way. But Israel is taking a beating. And it's not just about bots and stupid college kids. It's about people who see Israel as a henchman for America and for itself and Bibi Netanyahu as a warmonger. And again, critical thinking. There's context and a little bit of subtlety to this, certainly nuance. How so? After October 7th, you don't need to tell me. What would America have done? Well, we know what we would have done. We saw what we did after 9, 11. We went into the wrong country, killed the wrong people for a long time at a really high rate. That's what we did. How does that make what happened after October 7th okay? That we did the wrong thing the wrong way for a long time.
- [31:25]
B
How?
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C
How did we also do the right thing? Yeah, we killed a lot of terrorists, broke up a lot of organizations, made an attempt to help a lot of people. None of it really worked out the way we wanted it to. I don't see how any of that is any kind of justification for what Israel did after October 7th, by the way. I think that they had every right to do what they did after October 7th, how long they did it, to what degree they did it, why Bibi kept it going the way he did. I think those are all subject to criticism. Do I think that Hamas deserves the blame here more than Israel? 100%. 100%. And Iran more than Israel? 100%. 100%. But Lindsey Graham empowering Bibi Netanyahu, who is a politician, who is a dangerous politician, who is a far right politician, who is a lot like Trump. And I don't mean that as a compliment. I think that was a mistake, and I think it was not necessarily in America's best interests. And Lindsey Graham was all over that, and he helped lead Israel down to where it is now in public estimates. And I'll say it again, I believe that Israel has a right to exist and a right, therefore, to defend itself just like any other sovereign. But it must be held to the same standards as any other sovereign. And yes, their situation is a little different. They are surrounded by inimical factors that have an absolute existential threat. No question. But look at what Rahm Emanuel is saying. Okay, and let's do this little exercise that I want you to do. What was Rahm Emanuel's position on Israel with Obama and when mayor of Chicago. See what it says. No, no, no. Rahm Emanuel has been pro Israel, but he has also supported a two state solution. I don't think that doesn't make you pro Israel. I think most Israelis support a two state solution. During the Obama administration, Administration's White House chief of counsel, he was one of Obama's. Okay, we know that he's Jewish. His father was born in Jerusalem and one of his brothers served in the Israeli military. Strong support for Israel's security in the U S. Israel alliance, support for maintaining US Military aid, support for the two state solution and that Israeli settlement expansion in the west bank undermined peace prospects. And boy, was he right. Okay, about that last point. He also was suspicious of Bibi Netanyahu, but now he is at a point where he is saying that the relationship between Israel and the United States has to change. Now post October 7th, Emmanuel of course defended Israel's right to respond militarily. But he became increasingly critical of Netanyahu and rightly so. Okay, and now he has a new stance, which is the settlements are bad. They've got to stop. They've got to go. The extent of force on non combatants is too much. Even if it is better than what America did, even if it is statistically lower than other conflicts, it is still too much and it has to stop. And I know that is maddening and frustrating to the Israelis because the threat still exists. But it's just an instruction that military might is not the answer. It's not going to get you to where you want to be. It never has and it never will. And that's true for us too. We keep learning the same lesson again and again and again or we don't learn it. Rahm Emanuel is a very good indicator of where the Democratic Party is moving on this issue. And a big reason for that is because of what people like Senator Graham did to empower Bibi Netanyahu in a way that is not helpful to Israel's overall interests, in my opinion and certainly not helpful to America's interests. That is Lindsey Graham. Now there is one other thing. The president took time to bring up the Brett Kavanaugh stuff as such a shame and how zealously Lindsey Graham defended Brett Kavanaugh. First of all, Lindsey Graham defended Brett Kavanaugh because it got him attention and because he wanted the conservative young judge on the court. He knew he was defending behavior that he really shouldn't. And it wasn't that he knew Blasey Ford was lying. It's not what it was and for Donald Trump in an interview where he doesn't want to talk about anything but Lindsey Graham and brings up the Brett Kavanaugh situation and then the media makes it like, okay. That they can't go back and forth with him about that is a big problem for us with our political culture and our media culture. But no, I don't think Lindsey Graham gets a gold star for that. Why? Because I think the scrutiny that was applied to Kavanaugh. Was it a lot? Yeah. Was it a lot? Why? Because that was the Democrats jihad issue. That was the fervor of me too. And is there a hypocrisy involved when you look at that versus Graham Platner? Yeah. Welcome to politics. The Democrats can be hypocrites too. Yeah, they can. I mean, look, you'll never hear me say that. I love how the Democratic Party is. It's just ain't as bad as maga. They haven't been completely consumed by their fringe and I don't like fringe. Okay. Might they be consumed by their fringe?
- [37:33]
B
I don't know.
- [37:33]
C
Maybe. We'll see. But I also don't think the DSA is what you think it is if you're a critic of it. What do you mean? They tell you what it is. They tell you they want this. People say a lot of things. Okay? Why? Because extreme ideas are selling right now. And they know that people on the left aren't as afraid of the word socialism as MAGA is. And that maybe even works for them that maga's afraid of it. But they're not going to change our system to socialism. Support for the Chris Cuomo project comes from quo. That's Q U O. Most customers aren't waiting around for a callback. Okay? Maybe they're trying to book an appointment. Maybe they're looking for a quote. Maybe they just need help and they need it right now. Whatever it is, if nobody answers, they're calling the next business on the list. That's why today's episode is brought to you by quo, spelled Q U O. The business phone system. Built so you never miss a call. Okay. And why do you never miss it? Because they all live in one place. So anyone on your team can pick up a conversation and see the full history. Okay? That's why it's the number one rated business phone system on G2, trusted by over 90,000 businesses.
- [38:47]
A
All right?
- [38:48]
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They have a built in AI agent that handles after hours calls, answers questions and even books appointments. And you can say AI is taking over. I'll tell you that. I'll tell you what. I'd rather have something with scripted responses so I know what I'm getting than talking to somebody who clearly has no clue from somewhere that is very different than where I'm calling from. Money is on the line. Always say hello with quo. Try quo for free. Plus get 20% off your first six months when you go to Cuo.com Cuomo. That's Q-U-O.com Cuomo. Do I believe that you dance on the grave? Of course not. Of course not. Lindsey Graham. It's not about what he deserves. It's what we deserve. What you deserve from yourself is that you don't invest in schadenfreude. You know what that is the German idea of taking joy at other people's sorrow. You're. You're better than that. And you don't need to be happy that he's dead to be righteous about what you disagreed with and using this moment to remind people of that while giving dignity to the fact that he's dead politically. What does it mean? Somebody's going to step into that space. Probably Ted Cruz would be my opinion. Another hypocrite. Okay, but you got to hate the game, too. You got to hate that this is. Okay, that this is what gets rewarded. This is what you have to do. This is how you get ahead. That's the problem. That's the problem with the binary system. That's a problem with the toxic system. That's a problem with a system where people doing the right thing doesn't get rewarded, where compromise and collaboration doesn't get rewarded. Look at the housing bill. This is the only thing that Congress has done together that affects the many on a real problem of affordability. And the President was going to just let it go. Of course he didn't do shit because he's all about empty threats. But for the SAVE act, which, again, you want IDs, I think it should be on the government to make sure everybody has one. And you should not punish someone for not having one if the government hasn't been able to provide them with one. I don't think you should put it on people to have to get them. Why? Because this is a right, not a privilege. There is no needing an ID for any other right. Yes, there is. You need a passport to travel. That's a privilege. Okay, how. No, no. You have a right to interstate travel. I know, but how you travel is subject to regulation. All right? We do not have the same distinction being drawn with this franchise of voting. Nobody's ever said, except for Jim Crow, which is why you don't need ID in the first place, is they were trying to get away from the Jim Crow era. And yet here we are. I get that ID is popular. I think part of that is that people misunderstand it and misunderstand the implications, but also misunderstand the process, that it's not the state that is going to be making this happen, it's you who's going to have to make it happen. It's going to be a pain in your ass in a lot of cases, and it may be one that you don't want to undertake. And that's why I think my concern is that at the end of the day, this is going to reduce the number of legitimate voters. And I think that's a problem. And my bigger problem, much bigger, is that in the SAVE act, they are also wanting to get rid of mail in ballot to an overwhelming extent. And that's a real problem, seeing how it's been the number one expansion of participation in elections for decades. And that's why Trump wants to get rid of it. Not because we have a fraud problem. There is no fraud problem. And Lindsey Graham was quiet about too much of that shit so that he could stay close to the President and motivate his own agenda. Because that's how the game is played, ladies and germs. And we should call it out because it's wrong. And I'm not happy that he's dead. I'm not happy about how he died. I'm not happy about what his death
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means
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and how it's being exploited. But Lindsey Graham has a legacy that should be held out as what is wrong with our politics. And that's all I have to say about that. Thank you for giving me some space in this moment to discuss this the way I believe matters most. I know it may not be as satisfying as folk. Lindsey Graham, I'm glad he's dead. You know, he's down there trying to get Reagan's attention in hell doesn't help me. Doesn't make anything better in my opinion. But you subscribing and following here and caring about Fix Amendment America first and buying the swag to show and wear your independence that you're a free agent, that you're a critical thinker, that you're different, that helps. And I appreciate you. And you know, I'm using the money to give to people to try to help. Okay? That's what I'm doing with it. It's not like the Chris Cuomo Pizza Fund. Thank you for listening to me in the morning. Thank you for being here. Thank you for subscribing to Cuomo Crime Time. It's growing, and it's growing for the right reasons, with the right audience. I love it. Please subscribe to Cuomo Crime Time, and I'll see you at News Nation every weekday night at 8pm Eastern. My brothers and sisters, the challenges are real. If we stick together, we'll get through them together. Let's get after it.