GREENVILLE, S.C. (WCIV) — U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham chastised his Republican opponents and reaffirmed his unfettered and unwavering support of Israel moving forward at a campaign event in Greenville on Thursday.

Graham, who is seeking a fifth Senate term, cited several instances in which his Republican opponents or their staff members engaged in what he described as antisemitism. He also said the Democratic Party has been overtaken by hostility toward Israel, casting himself as the lone standard-bearer for support of the nation in the Middle East in South Carolina.

“One anti-Israel party is enough in America,” Graham said. “I intend to proudly stand with Israel and vocally oppose this garbage [antisemitism]. Israel, when they confront radical Islam over there, they are making us safer here.”

The longtime senator vowed to root out any antisemitism found within the Republican Party. And he characterized anyone who holds adversarial views toward Israel as working against the grain of President Donald Trump, who endorsed Graham for re-election early in 2025.

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The senator’s comments come at a time when concerns about antisemitism within the Republican Party are growing. The schism has often appeared along age-related lines, with younger members of the GOP appearing to harbor harsher opinions toward both Israel’s government and Jewish people. Driving the misalignment are figures like Nick Fuentes, who has over 1 million followers on the social media platform X.

Fuentes has said the Holocaust was exaggerated and that he believes in a global Jewish conspiracy. Meanwhile, more establishment adjacent figures, like Tucker Carlson, have made comments espousing a white supremacist ideology called the “great replacement theory,” which says people of color are replacing white people and that Jews are furthering the change.

For Graham’s part, he has stood in the breach of these ideologies, routinely stating that he is in the “Hitler-sucks wing of the Republican Party.” And on Thursday, he reaffirmed that statement.

“This is a campaign about defining the Republican Party,” Graham said. “This is not about speech. You can be an antisemite all you want in America, you’re just not going to be in the Republican Party doing it.”

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Graham’s continued defense of Israel – and scorched Earth campaign against what he defines as antisemitism – comes at a time when Americans’ sympathies in the Middle East have shifted dramatically toward the Palestinians.

Three years ago, 54% of Americans sympathized more with the Israelis, compared with 31% for the Palestinians. Now, their support is about evenly balanced, with 41% saying their sympathies lie more with the Palestinians, and only 36% saying the same about the Israelis, according to a February Gallup poll.

Yet, to Graham, the polls don’t tell the full story. His fight is a larger – and morally urgent – one, he said.

“What kind of party do we want to be?” Graham asked. “Our Jewish brothers and sisters are under siege all over the world. The Democratic Party has flamed the hatred against Israel. They campaign on hating the state of Israel. One party doing that is enough.”