--- title: Donald Trump Calls Out Lindsey Graham Over Charlottesville description: President Trump said Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina misrepresented his words and called him "publicity seeking" in a series of tweets canonical: https://time.com/4904344/donald-trump-lindsey-graham-twitter-charlottesville/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-17T11:48:52.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T17:02:18.654Z article:section: Politics og:title: Donald Trump Calls Out 'Publicity Seeking' Lindsey Graham Over Charlottesville Jabs og:description: The senator said Trump's comments were "dividing Americans" og:url: https://time.com/4904344/donald-trump-lindsey-graham-twitter-charlottesville/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte87252a2846b924a/6988da17bc6cfc4df73e2abf/gettyimages-826060234.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4915 og:image:height: 2765 og:image:alt: donald trump lindsey graham twitter og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump Calls Out 'Publicity Seeking' Lindsey Graham Over Charlottesville Jabs twitter:description: The senator said Trump's comments were "dividing Americans" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte87252a2846b924a/6988da17bc6cfc4df73e2abf/gettyimages-826060234.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump Calls Out 'Publicity Seeking' Lindsey Graham Over Charlottesville Jabs > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Lisa Marie Segarra](https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/) ## Lisa Marie Segarra Aug 17, 2017 11:48 AM UTC  Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, speaks during a press conference in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017\. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee advanced legislation, named the Taylor Force Act, to cut U.S. financial aid to the West Bank and Gaza until the Palestinian Authority ends payments incentivizing terror attacks. Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, speaks during a press conference in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017\. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee advanced legislation, named the Taylor Force Act, to cut U.S. financial aid to the West Bank and Gaza until the Palestinian Authority ends payments incentivizing terror attacks. Photograph by Zach Gibson—Bloomberg/Getty by [Lisa Marie Segarra](https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/) ## Lisa Marie Segarra Aug 17, 2017 11:48 AM UTC President Donald Trump said that Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina misrepresented his comments and called the senator “publicity seeking” in a series of tweets Thursday morning. “Publicity seeking Lindsey Graham falsely stated that I said there is moral equivalency between the KKK, neo-Nazis & white supremacists and people like Ms. Heyer. Such a disgusting lie. He just can’t forget his election trouncing. The people of South Carolina will remember! The public is learning (even more so) how dishonest the Fake News is. They totally misrepresent what I say about hate, bigotry etc. Shame!” the President tweeted at around 6:30 a.m. Thursday. Graham released a statement saying he does not endorse parts of Trump’s response to the [violence that broke out in Charlottesville, Va.](http://time.com/charlottesville-white-nationalist-rally-clashes/), Saturday when a [car rammed into a crowd of counter-protesters](http://www.thedrive.com/news/13446/videos-show-dodge-challenger-ramming-crowd-of-protesters-at-virginia-rally) at a white supremacist rally, which killed one and injured 19. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/898127175525728256) > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/898128290698989568) > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/898130328916824064) “Your words are dividing Americans, not healing them,” Graham, who ran against Trump for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination,[ said in a statement. ](https://www.lgraham.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=D1258F2A-79E7-4952-9E85-FBAE64919AF4) Graham added that Trump “took a step backward by again suggesting there is a moral equivalency between the white supremacist neo-Nazis and KKK members who attended the Charlottesville rally and people like Ms. Heyer.” Trump was criticized for his response to the events in Charlottesville when he said there is [blame “on both sides.”](http://time.com/4902144/donald-trump-charlottesville-blame-both-sides-kkk-nazi/) Graham responded to Trump tweeting, “Mr. President, like most I seek to move our nation, my state, and our party forward – toward the light – not back to the darkness. Your tweet honoring Miss Heyer was very nice and appropriate. Well done. However, because of the manner in which you have handled the Charlottesville tragedy you are now receiving praise from some you are now receiving praise from some of the most racist and hate-filled individuals and groups in our country. For the sake of our Nation — as our President —please fix this. History is watching us all.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4904344/donald-trump-lindsey-graham-twitter-charlottesville/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4904344/donald-trump-lindsey-graham-twitter-charlottesville/"},"headline":"Donald Trump Calls Out 'Publicity Seeking' Lindsey Graham Over Charlottesville Jabs","datePublished":"2017-08-17T11:48:52.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T17:02:18.654Z","description":"The senator said Trump's comments were \"dividing Americans\"","url":"https://time.com/4904344/donald-trump-lindsey-graham-twitter-charlottesville/","keywords":["White House","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte87252a2846b924a/6988da17bc6cfc4df73e2abf/gettyimages-826060234.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lisa Marie Segarra","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte87252a2846b924a/6988da17bc6cfc4df73e2abf/gettyimages-826060234.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"donald trump lindsey graham twitter","caption":"Senate Republicans Hold A Press Conference On The Taylor Force Act","creditText":"Photograph by Zach Gibson—Bloomberg/Getty","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4904344/donald-trump-lindsey-graham-twitter-charlottesville/","name":"Donald Trump Calls Out 'Publicity Seeking' Lindsey Graham Over Charlottesville Jabs"}}]}] ```