Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.) has been one of President Trump's strongest advocates for the war with Iran.
He has pushed for harder strikes in the Middle East and has proudly touted his closeness to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Earlier this week, he urged Saudi Arabia to join the U.S. and Israel in the conflict.
This has enraged the anti-war wing of the MAGA movement and sparked blowback from other Republicans.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), who said she has been reassured there will be no American boots on the ground in Iran, emphasized in a post on the social platform X that Graham "does NOT tell the President what to do, nor does he control Congress."
"If Senator Graham wants to go fight in a foreign conflict, let him be the first to volunteer," she wrote.
Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who has been a fierce critic of the Iran war, posted on social media, "Please South Carolina, send Lindsey Graham to the front lines instead of your precious children."
Conservative commentator Meghan McCain also went after Graham, arguing he isn't in a position to make decisions about war.
"Nothing like a single, childless, septuagenarian telling American mothers to send their children to go possibly die in a war," she posted.
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) panned Graham's comments from a Fox News interview in which he suggested the U.S. should "move all our stuff to Israel." Gaetz said such a move would not be "America First."
Oh, and conservative commentator Megyn Kelly likened the GOP senator to "a homicidal maniac." 👀
💡 Why this matters: Graham is a longtime defense hawk. His position on Iran makes sense for his ideology on foreign policy. However, the Republican Party is no longer as hawkish as it once was.
Trump ran as the "anti-war" candidate and pushed for ending conflicts. This new war in Iran has driven a wedge between these two factions within the GOP. At the same time, Graham's visible advocacy for the war is drawing arrows away from administration officials, and Trump himself.
📣 Graham's response: Graham responded to Luna's critique, saying, "I got a Bronze Star. I'm not a combat soldier, and I've served my time, and I'm proud of what I do. And so the argument is, the only people that can make war decisions are soldiers? What happened to civilian control of the military?" ()
The Hill has reached out to Graham's office for further comment.
