Lindsey Graham's campaign falsely claims he always wears masks in public

Sen. Lindsey Graham’s campaign falsely claimed on Tuesday that he “always” wears a face mask in public.

T.W. Arrighi, the communications director for the South Carolina Republican’s campaign, tweeted, “Another @harrisonjaime interview, another blatant lie.
@LindseyGrahamSC NEVER attends events without a mandatory mask policy. He always wears his mask in public unless speaking, and encourages others to do the same.”

Arrighi was responding to a comment made by Jaime Harrison, the Democratic nominee challenging Graham for his Senate seat this November, calling Graham an “absentee Senator” and saying he does not always wear a face mask in public to help curb the spread of the coronavirus.

But a video of Graham at a fundraiser at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., in July posted by North Carolina Republican congressional candidate Madison Cawthorn contradicts Arrighi’s claim.

In the video, an unmasked Graham steps past an unmasked Donald Trump to greet the unmasked Cawthorn. Graham comes within inches of the House candidate’s face during their brief conversation.

Trump and Graham had previously urged Americans to wear masks.

Asked later about the contradiction, Graham said, “We’re all sitting there, having dinner. You know, you gotta eat. We’d all been just tested,” though the video showed them outside of the dining area. Pressed about whether everyone in the room had been tested, Graham answered only, “Everybody was tested at the place I was.”

A Graham spokesperson did not immediately respond to an inquiry for this story.

Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser has ordered people to wear masks in hotel common areas. A city investigator was reportedly sent to inspect Trump’s hotel after the event, but recorded no violations.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.