Sen. Lindsey Graham: Iranians in Pool Halls Are All Liars

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Lindsey Graham is the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of the US Senate. Here he is, slipping into his Mr. Hyde role:

Senator Lindsey Graham, the first speaker Friday morning, appearing from Washington via video, spoke of losing his parents as a teenager, working in a pool hall and having to help raise his younger sister — and how it relates to his leadership style.

“Everything I learned about Iranians I learned working in the pool room,” he said. “I met a lot of liars, and I know the Iranians are lying.”

Well, there you have it. It’s not entirely clear to me how you’d become so adept at spotting liars in an open game like pool, but I guess ol’ Lindsey managed it.

In any case, this is certainly the level of nuance and understanding of world affairs that we’re getting accustomed to from the Republican presidential field—and it’s only May. By the time, say, September rolls around, they’re going to be competing with each other the same way they did four years ago over border security. It won’t be long before we start hearing about nukes, giant domes, and Iron Curtain 2.0. Should be lotsa fun.

UPDATE: The BBC has corrected its Lindsey quote. He didn’t say “I know the Iranians are liars.” He said, “I know the Iranians are lying.” I’ve corrected the text.

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PLEASE—BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things it doesn’t like—which is most things that are true.

We’ll say it loud and clear: At Mother Jones, no one gets to tell us what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please do your part and help us reach our $150,000 membership goal by May 31.

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