President Joe Biden on Tuesday hammered Republican officials who have been attacking the FBI for its search of classified documents at Donald Trump’s home, specifically calling out Sen. Lindsey Graham’s statement warning about riots if the former president is prosecuted.
“The idea you turn on a television and see senior senators and congressmen saying, ‘If such and such happens, there’ll be blood in the street,’” Biden said at a speech in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, about public safety. “Where the hell are we?”
The president also criticized Republicans for attacking the FBI and demanding that the agency be “defunded.”
“Now it’s sickening to see the new attacks on the FBI. Threatening the lives of law enforcement agents and their families for simply carrying out the law and doing their job,” Biden said. “I’m opposed to defunding the police. I’m also opposed to defunding the FBI.”
Don't Miss
During an appearance on Fox News Sunday night, Graham said the FBI’s search of Mar-a-Lago was politically motivated and warned that prosecuting Trump would result in violence. “I’ll say this: If there is a prosecution of Donald Trump for mishandling classified information after the Clinton debacle … there will be riots in the street,” the South Carolina Republican said.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had a small number of classified documents on her private email server during her 2016 presidential run. The FBI determined that no malice was intended and she did not face prosecution. In contrast, Trump is being investigated for taking highly classified documents, including some that are top secret and deal with human intelligence, from the White House with him to his tennis and croquet club in Florida, putting national security at risk.
Biden has long criticized those who defend Trump’s mob that attacked the Capitol as part of his attempted coup to remain in power, saying they cannot then pretend to be supporters of the police, 140 of whom were injured in the attack.
“You can’t be pro-law enforcement and pro-insurrection. You can’t be a party of law and order and call the people who attacked the police on Jan. 6 patriots. You can’t do it,” he said. “For god’s sake, whose side are you on? Whose side are you on? … You’re either on the side of the mob, or the side of the police.”
Pres. Biden clearly reacting to Sen. Graham's threat of "riots in the streets": "The idea… of seeing a senior senator and congressmen saying if such and such happens, 'there will be blood in the street.' Where the hell are we?"
Watch more: https://t.co/44lzIIWFOX#LastWord pic.twitter.com/NFkyDDuguV
— The Last Word (@TheLastWord) August 30, 2022
