Republican Senator Lindsey Graham Caught Making Off-Color Jokes

Possible 2016 presidential candidate Lindsey Graham (R-SC) recently spoke to a group of potential donors and cracked a couple of jokes that can most charitably be described as “off-color.” Unfortunately for him, two anonymous Democrats got hold of the secretly-recorded jokes and leaked them to CNN.

“I’m trying to help you with your tax status. I’m sorry the government’s so f–ed up. If I get to be president, white men in male-only clubs are going to do great in my presidency.”

He also cracked jokes about Baptists – “[They are] the ones that drink and don’t admit it” – and all-male clubs, joking that there are very few such clubs since Augusta National Golf Club began admitting women two years ago.

Graham discussed the off-color jokes with CNN writer Peter Hamby. Considering the audience he was addressing, Graham said, his jokes weren’t inappropriate. Graham made the jokes while speaking at the Hibernian Society of Charleston, which is, as Hamby describes it, an “Irish-Catholic charity organization that sometimes hosts big-name politicians for irreverent and frequently bawdy speeches.”

Graham describes his jokes as being intended to poke fun at himself, in an environment where self-deprecating, off-color humor is encouraged.

“[The Hibernian Society encourages you] to be earthy, to make fun of yourself, to make fun of them. Then you say something serious and sit down. And if you talk over 20 minutes, they throw something at you.”

According to Daily Mail, at least one South Carolina republican operative thinks Graham’s jokes, especially given the audience, were actually a solid move, politically.

“He had to try and be funny. The event would have attracted far more criticism, and serious complaints – the election is next Tuesday, for gosh’s sake – if he showed up and gave a serious policy speech. They would have swept him off the stage if he did than anyway. Those guys are brutal if you’re boring. And it sounds like he was one of the more mild-mannered Hibernian speakers in a while anyway.”

Graham’s democrat rival, state senator Brad Hutto, told MSN that Graham’s explanation of his jokes doesn’t hold any water.

“When behind the closed doors of a private club, Lindsey Graham let his true colors show. He is only interested in his own ambitions and the best interests of the wealthy donors he hopes will fund his possible presidential campaign.”

Do you believe that Lindsey Graham’s off-color jokes, delivered to a private audience, are inappropriate? Let us know what you think in the Comments below.

[Image courtesy of: Daily Slave]