Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said on Tuesday night that he backs President Donald Trump’s push for $2,000 direct payments for COVID-19 relief, but the senator tied his support to repealing Section 230 and whether the GOP keeps control of the Senate after the Georgia runoffs.
Graham told Fox News that though the payments would be “expensive” and are “not the most efficient way to get aid to people who are suffering,” he agreed with Trump that the $600 relief checks in the newly passed COVID-19 stimulus package were “not enough.”
The senator then mentioned Trump’s demand to repeal Section 230, a provision in the Communications Decency Act that protects social media platforms like Twitter from punishment over content posted by their users. The President and his GOP allies have repeatedly claimed that Section 230 targets conservatives.
“The President has dug in. He wants a vote on a $2,000 payment. I support that,” the GOP senator said. “And he wants to repeal Section 230 to keep Big Tech from running the country and censoring conservatives. I support both of those, and I think we’re going to get a vote in the Senate if we control the Senate.”
However, Graham added, “If we lose Georgia, we’re never going to get a vote on repealing Section 230.”
“They’re going to send another bill over that’s going to make this bill look cheap,” the senator said, presumably referring to Democrats.
After Sens. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) and David Perdue (R-GA) expressed support for $2,000 relief checks amid pressure to do so ahead of the runoffs next week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) crafted a package that seemingly attempts to torpedo the potential payment increases by tying them to Trump’s desired rollback of Section 230 and a committee to investigate the nonexistent voter fraud that the President falsely claims led to his defeat.
Watch Graham below:
Graham says he supports $2,000 relief checks. pic.twitter.com/2aGAhOYJG2
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) December 30, 2020
