Speaking to Fox News host Maria Bartiromo on Sunday Morning Futures , South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham lashed out at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi , who told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday morning that she believes Donald Trump ‘s coronavirus response is responsible for American deaths.
“She’s blaming the president of the United States for people dying,” he said, per Raw Story .
“That’s the most shameful, disgusting statement by any politician in modern history.”
According to The Hill , Pelosi’s comment was a response to the Trump administration’s consideration of relaxing social distancing against the recommendations of public health officials.
“As the president fiddles, people are dying,” she said.
Although Trump’s early inaction on COVID-19 has been the focus of scrutiny, Graham told Bartiromo that America’s best as been on display as the pandemic continues to spread across the world and through the United States, which is reportedly now the coronavirus epicenter of the world.
“She’s the first politician to blame another politician for people dying,” Graham complained.
“This is the same Speaker of the House who held up the bill in the Senate for days because she wanted same day voting, she wanted carbon neutrality for the airlines, she wanted $75 million of the Endowment for the Humanities and she wanted $25 million for the Kennedy Center.”
Graham is referring to criticism of Pelosi’s decision to hold up the $2 trillion coronavirus relief package in an attempt to pack it full of what critics called a partisan wish list. Multiple Republicans also accused Pelosi of demanding $25 million for salaries and expenses for the Democrat-led House, although it does not appear to have made the final bill.
In response to Graham’s criticism of Pelosi’s House leadership, Bartiromo reminded the 64-year-old politician that he voted in support of the bill, which ultimately passed.
“Yeah, [Pelosi] put a gun to our head!” he said.
Graham noted that he and his Republican allies successfully removed much of Pelosi’s wish list. He then doubled down on his attack on her recent criticism of Trump, calling her comments “pretty disgusting” and again pointing to her determination to hold up the bill amid the pandemic.
As reported by Vanity Fair , Graham is one of many Republicans who has been vocal about their criticism of the massive coronavirus bill. Before the package was pushed through, Graham suggested that the proposal was too generous to unemployed people and claimed that they would gain more money from not working than from working. The pushback by Graham and his GOP allies was blasted by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders , who ultimately helped push the bill through with the unemployment benefits intact.
