SC Sen. Graham says pope isn’t taking threat of ‘religious Nazis’ in Iran seriously
High gas prices are a strain on drivers across South Carolina, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham told The Herald in an exclusive interview Monday afternoon. But they’re minor, he said, compared to the cost of inaction in Iran.
“Gas prices will come down once the war winds down,” Graham said. “But look at this. If they had gotten a nuclear weapon they’d hold the world hostage. They could shut it off at any moment.”
Graham attended a pastor forum at Oakdale Baptist Church in Rock Hill, where he pledged support for Israel, immigration enforcement and the installation of more conservative judges. He described the Iran regime several times as “religious Nazis” who are “hell-bent on getting a nuclear weapon” that they’d use if they could.
“These people want a master religion,” Graham said. “They’re trying to purify Islam, destroy the Jewish state and come after us as infidels. They’re crazy. They’re drunk on religion.”
The senator of more than two decades also shared similarities he sees between world affairs today and Adolf Hitler’s rise to power generations ago, and an issue where he disagrees with the pope on an issue of moral clarity.
War in Iran a necessity
If President Donald Trump hadn’t used military force in Iran, the country was a few weeks away from having uranium to build eight or 10 nuclear weapons, Graham claimed. Some reports since last month’s strikes have shed doubt on Iran’s nuclear capabilities prior to them.
“This is not a war of choice,” he said. “This is a war of necessity.”
Trump’s actions will strangle the Iranian economy and block its ports, which Graham expects to end the conflict and reduce gas prices back home. The gas station just across the highway from Oakdale Baptist sold gas for $3.70 a gallon as Graham visited Monday.
“We’re a few weeks away from wrapping it up,” Graham said. “And I want to go from war to peace.”
Graham said he sympathizes with concerns about high gas and goods prices created by the fighting in Iran. But they’re a necessary part of safety and freedom, he said.
“What matters over there matters to us when it comes here,” Graham said.
Graham compares Iran to Hitler’s Nazi Germany
Iran has the ability to set the whole world in chaos if it develops nuclear weapons, Graham said. The senator compared the Iranian regime to Nazi Germany, saying countries and political leaders didn’t take the Nazi threat seriously prior to World War II.
“We should believe these people in Iran,” Graham said. “They would use a nuclear weapon on the Jews, and us and everybody else they don’t like. So you pay now or you pay later.”
Disagreeing with the pope on moral clarity
President Trump on Sunday night posted a message on Truth Social calling Pope Leo XIV “weak on crime” and “terrible for foreign policy.” Trump criticized the pope for being “weak on nuclear weapons” and for speaking out against American foreign policies.
In another post, the president shared an artificial intelligence-generated image that appears to show Trump as a Jesus-like figure.
Graham sided with the president’s assessment of the pope and didn’t answer a question about the AI image.
“The Holy Father is entitled to his opinion, but I don’t like what the pope is saying in this regard,” Graham said. “I think the pope misses the evil nature of the (Iranian) regime.”
Graham compared the pope’s approach to the Catholic church not realizing the initial dangers when Hitler came to power prior to World War II. There are just causes for military action, Graham said, and preventing Iran from building nuclear weapons is one of them.
“I think it’s a just cause to keep the most radical regime in the world—the Iran regime, religious Nazis—from getting a nuclear weapon,” he said. “And pope, they’re not going to give up their weapons because you’re nice to them.”
Reaction to the president’s comments was widespread Monday. Bishop Michael Martin, who presides over the Charlotte area for the Catholic church, told the Charlotte Observer he’s grateful for the pope’s continued message of peace.
“The Holy Father knows that when God is our central focus, all things are possible, even between national leaders who are in conflict,” Martin said.
Graham relies on Trump for reelection
Graham is a candidate for reelection this fall. Statewide, 13 candidates from four political parties filed for the seat last month. Graham pointed to the possibility of taking over as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee as a case for voters keeping him in office.
“I’m going to pump out as many conservative judges as we can to make sure the courts reflect American conservatism, not liberalism,” he said.
Graham is working this week on a second reconciliation bill to fund U.S. Border Patrol and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he said. Graham’s case for office leans heavily on his alignment with the president.
“President Trump is the right guy at the right time to keep the world safe, keep us prosperous,” Graham said. “And I think I’m the right guy at the right time to help him.”
