Lindsey Graham Praises Donald Trump After Border Visit

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has praised Donald Trump after the former president visited the U.S.-Mexico border on Wednesday with more than two dozen Republican members of Congress.

Graham touted Trump's immigration policies on Twitter, lauding his visit to the southern border and his criticisms of President Joe Biden's approach.

"President Trump's criticism of the Biden Administration's border policy is dead-on!" Graham wrote.

"It's heartbreaking to see such human suffering and chaos at our border due to bad policy choices made by the Biden Administration.

"The only way to bring back real border security is to bring back Trump policies," the senator added.

"President Trump focusing on issues important to the American people will help Republicans win big in 2022."

On his visit to the border on Wednesday, Trump was accompanied by the Republican governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, and more than two dozen GOP lawmakers, according to The Washington Post.

Trump attended a border security briefing with state officials at the headquarters of the state's Department of Public Safety in Weslaco and delivered remarks in front of an unfinished section of the border wall.

"We did a hell of a job," Trump said, referring to his administration's border policies. "Now we have an open, really dangerous border."

He later added: "We have a sick country. It's sick in elections, and it's sick on the border."

Speaking later in front of the wall, Trump said: "Biden is destroying our country."

Governor Abbott also criticized the Biden administration and praised Trump-era policies, according to The Texas Tribune.

"You look at this border, and you [know] what you see? You see an unfinished border," he said. "This is Biden's fault because President Biden is not continuing what President Trump began. President Biden needs to start right there and finish building the border wall."

"One of the things that he [Trump] did better than anything else and definitely better than any other president is he stepped up, and he secured our border and kept Texas and Americans safe," Abbott said.

Abbott and Arizona Governor Doug Ducey invoked the Emergency Management Assistance Compact on June 10, requesting help from other states to deal with the border. Several Republican governors have pledged to send law enforcement officers to Texas.

Arrests at the southern border for the fiscal year 2021 topped 1 million in June, according to Reuters, putting the figure on track to be the highest since 2000. Republicans have blamed the Biden administration for reversing Trump's border policies.

Newsweek has asked the White House and Senator Lindsey Graham for comment.