Lindsey Graham: Clinton tour ‘something out of North Korea’

by Jesse Byrnes - 04/18/15 3:13 PM ET

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) mocked Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign rollout on Saturday, joking that her bid to connect with those in early-voting states made her look like a supreme leader.

“This listening tour is something out of North Korea,” Graham, who is expected to launch his own White House bid, said to laughs at the start of his speech at the First In the Nation leadership summit in New Hampshire.

” ‘Would you like to meet the dear leader and ask him anything you would like?’ ” Graham mocked. ” ‘If you want to meet her, you better be able to run 35 miles per hour.’ “

{mosads}”How does she get away with this? I don’t know,” Graham said, joking that Clinton wasn’t invited to the two-day GOP confab because “you can ask questions.”

Clinton spent her first days since announcing a White House bid on the road to Iowa this week, meeting with activists in coffee shops and at roundtable discussions along the way. She will head to visit New Hampshire on Monday.

During his speech, Graham tried to cast Clinton as President Obama’s third term and the “architect of his foreign policy,” which he blasted. He also offered harsh words for Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry.

“I wouldn’t let John Kerry buy me a car, much less negotiate with the Iranians,” Graham said. “Barack Obama has never run a lemonade stand, and his worldview is inconsistent with America’s role in the world.”

The South Carolina lawmaker took a softer tone when discussing issues such as Medicare and immigration.

Graham, a proponent of comprehensive immigration reform, also acknowledged that Mitt Romney only won 27 percent of the Hispanic vote in the 2012 presidential election and attempted to brandish his own bona fides on reaching out to those in the minority group.

Graham, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, argued that only the Republican Party advocated a strong national defense to protect against terrorism.

“But our party is not going to save America by herself. It’s gonna take all of us working together,” Graham said.

“The radical Islamist could care less if you’re Republican, Democrat, libertarian or vegetarian – they hate us because we’re tolerant, because we’re Americans.”

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