- Sen. Lindsey Graham joked that Trump should "punch a cop" on his way to being booked in Manhattan.
- He said that Trump would then "avoid prosecution" and be "released IMMEDIATELY!"
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina says he's got a plan to keep former President Donald Trump from being prosecuted after being indicted by a grand jury in Manhattan on Thursday — assaulting a police officer and engaging in robbery.
"How can President Trump avoid prosecution in New York?," asked Graham on Twitter. "On the way to the DA's office on Tuesday, Trump should smash some windows, rob a few shops and punch a cop."
The senator added: "He would be released IMMEDIATELY!"
—Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) March 31, 2023
Graham, a close Trump ally and one of just five senators who've publicly endorsed the former president's 2024 campaign, appeared to be making a joke playing off conservative critiques of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's record on crime in the city.
As they've rushed to Trump's defense amid a grand jury indictment in Bragg's probe into Trump's handling of a "hush money" payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels, many Republicans have argued that Bragg has not done enough to prosecute other crimes in the city and should shift his focus.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, in a tweet criticizing Bragg, said the DA "routinely frees violent criminals to terrorize the public.
And Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — a potential rival for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination — said that Bragg "consistently bent the law to downgrade felonies and to excuse criminal misconduct. Yet, now he is stretching the law to target a political opponent."
A progressive prosecutor, Bragg has come under fire for emphasizing criminal justice reform and seeking to reduce incarceration. Most controversially, he issued a "Day One memo" instructing prosecutors to only pursue jail time for the most violent offenses, which he later walked back.