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Lindsey Graham Breaks Up Barr Hearing With Wisecrack About Trump And A Cell Phone

Virginia Kruta Associate Editor
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Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham brought the house down Tuesday when he delivered a deadpan crack about President Donald Trump having his phone number.

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Former Attorney General William Barr, who faced questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday in his bid to take that same position in the Trump administration, told Graham — the committee’s newly-seated chairman — that he had not initially sought out a job.

“My wife and I were looking forward to a bit of respite. I didn’t want to put my head into the meat grinder,” Barr explained, but noted that he had met with the president in an advisory capacity, giving his assessment of special counsel Robert Mueller.

But then Barr continued, noting that Trump had asked whether he was considering coming to work with the administration. “I said, actually, Mr. President, right now, I couldn’t do it,” Barr said. “My personal and my professional obligations are such that I’m unable to do it. He asked me for my phone number. I gave it to him. I never heard from him again.”

Responding to Barr’s claim that he had given Trump his phone number, Graham deadpanned, “I tried that once.”

Trump having Lindsey Graham’s phone number has been a running joke since the 2016 Republican primary when, as Graham’s political adversary, Trump gave out Graham’s phone number to the general public. (RELATED: Lindsey Graham Has Harsh Words For Dems Who Might Make Next SCOTUS Confirmation Ugly)

And he made a public show of destroying his cell phone once Trump released the number.

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Graham joked again about the president having his number at a campaign stop in support of Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley last fall.

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