The GOP senator’s comments amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war elicited a viral response on social media on Sunday.
Senator Lindsey Graham got heated on Sunday during an interview with NBC News‘ Meet the Press host Kristen Welker—with snippets of the conversation circulating on social media that included some mischaracterizations of his statements and context that said the senator had a „tantrum.“
In the interview, Graham, a South Carolina Republican, and Welker discussed the United States‘ role in the ongoing conflict in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. Israel is preparing to launch a ground invasion into the densely-populated southern Gazan city of Rafah where more than 1.3 million displaced Palestinians are sheltering, according to the Associated Press.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas, a Palestinian militant group, launched an attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw more than 200 hostages taken. Over the past seven months, Israel’s military incursion into Gaza has killed over 34,500 people and destroyed essential infrastructure, according to the AP.
Graham said to Welker on Sunday, „When we were faced with destruction as a nation after Pearl Harbor, fighting the Germans and the Japanese, we decided to end the war by bombing Hiroshima, Nagasaki with nuclear weapons. That was the right decision.“
Graham was referencing the only time nuclear bombs have been used in war when the U.S. dropped them on Japan in 1945 at the end of World War II.
The senator added: „Give Israel the bombs they need to end the war they can’t afford to lose and work with them to minimize causalities.
