Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said Thursday that he is pledging $500,000 to President Donald Trump’s legal fund to fight “crooked” ballot counting in the 2020 presidential election.
“I’m going to donate $500,000 tonight to President Trump’s defense legal fund,” Graham told Fox News host Sean Hannity, calling “Philadelphia elections … as crooked as a snake.”
Graham called the allegations of voter fraud in Pennsylvania and other states “earth shattering” and said Republican lawmakers need to rally around the president and demand accountability from the electoral process. (RELATED: Trump Campaign Sues Pennsylvania To Halt Counting Of Mail-In Ballots, Prematurely Claims Victory)
Graham recounted his own successful Senate reelection bid where many polls suggested he was in a razor tight race with his Democratic challenger and said “mainstream media polling is designed to suppress Republican votes.”
“But I’m here tonight to stand with President Trump. He stood with me. He’s the reason we are going to have a Senate majority,” Graham continued.
The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee said it was time for Republicans to help Trump because “he helped Senate Republicans” and with the House races.
Graham said he “raised a ton of money” for his reelection campaign through Fox News interviews and so he has “the resources to fight the allegations of wrongdoing.”
“Senate Republicans are going to be briefed by the Trump campaign Saturday and every Senate Republican and House Republican needs to get on television and tell this story,” Graham said.
Graham did not rule out a strategy that would include invalidating some votes in battleground states that have been called “fake” without evidence or that were allegedly processed without Republican observers being present.
“I think everything should be on the table; so there’s the process of observing an election that’s being violated. Philadelphia elections are crooked as a snake,” he said.
“Why are they shutting people out? Because they don’t want people to see what they’re doing. But you’re talking about a lot of dead people voting. You’re talking about in Nevada people voting who are not legal residents.”
State officials have countered claims of voting irregularities and fraud, saying they are processing ballots in a careful and conscientious manner.
President Donald Trump speaks on election night in the East Room of the White House in the early morning hours of Nov. 04, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The Trump campaign announced Thursday that it had filed lawsuits in Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania to stop mail-in ballot counting until campaign scrutineers are allowed to observe the the process and inspect those ballots previously opened and counted.
Former Acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell claimed Thursday that Trump campaign observers were being blocked from vote counting in Nevada.