Graham slams Trump's court battles as 'selective prosecution'

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Sunday that all of the criminal court cases brought against former President Trump are “selective prosecution.”

Graham told CNN’s Dana Bash on CNN’s “State of the Union” that the legal battles brought against the former president are “political.” The South Carolina Republican also mentioned the New York hush money trial that started earlier this month in a Manhattan court room.

“Why don't you ask me, would any — if he's convicted in any of these trials, would it change my view? No. I think all these trials are political. I think it's selective prosecution. I think what's going on in New York is an outrage. The case is eight years ago. They created a crime just for Trump. I think it's selective prosecution for political purposes,” Graham said Sunday.

Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection to reimbursements made to his then-fixer, Michael Cohen, for a payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in 2016 to stay quiet about an alleged affair with the former president.

Trump — who is facing a total of 88 criminal charges across four different indictments — has frequently also labeled the cases as politically motivated. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Graham also said voters are more concerned about their own issues than the former president’s legal woes.

“So I think most Americans are not going to decide how to vote based on Trump's legal troubles, but the troubles they face, inflation, crime, a broken border. Your poll tells me everything I need to know about these legal problems for Trump. People are looking at their problems, not Trump's legal problems,” he said.

He said he will “absolutely” support Trump even if he was convicted in any of the trials, adding that “most people have written this off.”

“They're going to focus on their problems, not a bunch of cases brought by liberals against Trump,” he said.