Senator Lindsey Graham was left with egg on his face after a smear campaign against his Democratic challenger Jaime Harrison backfired in spectacular fashion.
Graham in the last week had been calling on Harrison, the former chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party, to release his tax returns and suggested on Twitter that Harrison was hiding something.
Harrison, who pundits believe poses a threat to Graham’s 17-year career in the Senate, released his returns on Tuesday.
And he informed Graham with a zinger of a post that called on his 2020 rival, who is one of President Donald Trump’s most ardent apologists, to turn his attention to the president and demand that Trump release his own tax records.
Trump refused to release his own tax returns during the 2016 campaign and broke a promise to do so after taking office. Since then, the president has waged a pitched legal battle to hide his returns from the Manhattan district attorney’s investigation into possible financial fraud by Trump and his company.
Graham blasted Trump multiple times before his 2016 election and has said repeatedly that Trump should release his tax returns.
“I think you should release your tax returns if you’re running for president in 2020,” Graham said in 2019. “I think everybody should. That’s just my view. It’d be good for the country.”
Graham, who frequently golfs with Trump, hasn’t pushed the issue since.
Critics on Twitter hammered Graham for hypocrisy and cheered Harrison’s response: