Friends and colleagues are puzzled by his unexpected conversion, and some speculate that he’s angling for an administration post

Facing a skeptical audience at a theatre in downtown Washington, Senator Lindsey Graham embraced the role of pantomime villain in the ongoing saga of Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the supreme court.

“I’m the first person to say, ‘I want to hear from Dr Ford,’” he said, referring to the woman who testified to the Senate about allegations that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her. “I thought she was handled respectfully. I thought Kavanaugh was treated like crap.”

The packed auditorium at the Atlantic magazine’s annual festival filled with boos and heckles. Graham snapped back dismissively: “Yeah, well, boo yourself.”

Some members of the audience walked out in disgust. But the South Carolina senator was reveling in being the centre of attention. He was also displaying his new, unexpected conversion from ardent critic of Donald Trump to one of the president’s most ferocious attack dogs.

It is a role that has pushed Graham into new national prominence, putting him squarely in the middle of the national confrontation between the #MeToo movement and the populist backlash of male victimisation and righteous indignation.

His battle cry: “I know I’m a single white man from South Carolina and I’ve been told to shut up but I will not shut up.”

But friends, acquaintances and colleagues are puzzled. Michael Steele, former chairman of the Republican National Committee, said: “I think a lot of people in this town who know Lindsey are scratching their heads and saying, ‘That’s not the Lindsey Graham who’s always been an honest broker.’ If Lindsey’s honest, he would not perform the way he’s been performing on behalf of Trump.”

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Graham, 63, has long been one of the most colorful characters in the Senate, long parodied by TV satirist Jon Stewart as a southern belle like Tennessee Williams’ Blanche DuBois. He served in the US air force in various capacities for more than three decades. In 2015, he acknowledged he had never sent an email.

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Graham launched his political career in the South Carolina legislature in 1992 before winning an open House seat in 1994. He emerged as a key figure in the attempt to impeach President Bill Clinton. He also became known for hawkish views on foreign policy andfor working across the aisle with Democrats.

Graham ran for president in 2016 but was crushed in the Republican primary. During that campaign, he dismissed Trump as a “jackass”, “a race-baiting bigot” and “the most flawed nominee in the history of the Republican party”.

So his performance at last week’s Senate judiciary committee hearing over Dr Christine Blasey Ford’s allegations of sexual assault against Kavanaugh, seemed wildly out of character. Just as Republicans’ resolve appeared to be faltering, Graham delivered a fire and brimstone blast – “If you vote no, you’re legitimising the most despicable thing I have seen in my time in politics” – that thrilled the White House and conservative base and simultaneously destroyed any lingering hopes of bipartisan comity.

Steele reflected: “That sycophantic performance was all for Trump because there was really no basis for him to go off the way he did, to show the kind of immature behavior in a setting like that, given the seriousness of the conversation.”

The Atlantic editor, Jeffrey Goldberg, put this directly to Graham at Wednesday’s event. “I think you’re cheapening me and that’s fine, I don’t really care,” the senator replied defiantly. “You’re suggesting that the reason I got mad was for some political play.”

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Graham pointed out he had voted to confirm Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, both nominated to the supreme court by a Democratic president, and claimed a double standard. “So here’s the game here: when I’m voting for two female nominees, nominated by the Democrat, I’m the smartest frigging guy in town. I’m the epitome of what a good Republican would be like. When I defend somebody I’ve known for 20 years against complete character assassination, all the sudden it’s about Lindsey.”

Indeed, in recent days Graham has continued to be Kavanaugh’s stoutest champion, even suggesting that if he is voted down, Trump should simply renominate him. His efforts have not gone unnoticed. The president told reporters on Tuesday: “Lindsey is a friend of mine – at least for the last six months, as you know. And he’s done, really, a great thing and a great service for our country.”

Only two years ago Graham was lambasting Trump. In 2017 he warned there would be “holy hell” to pay if the president fired the attorney general, Jeff Sessions. Yet by August this year – and after several rounds of golf together - he had done a U-turn, suggesting Trump deserved an attorney general in whom he has confidence.

What happened? Steele said: “You only go from ‘This guy is a danger to our nation and bad news’ to ‘Oh my God he’s the best thing since sliced bread, let me play golf with him’, only if you want something or you expect something. I can’t explain it. Only he can explain it.””

Facebook Twitter Pinterest When Lindsey Graham ran for president in 2016, he described Donald Trump as a ‘jackass’, ‘a race-baiting bigot’ and ‘the most flawed nominee in the history of the Republican party’. Photograph: Brian Frank/Reuters

Graham’s full-throated embrace of Trumpism appears to have accelerated since the death in August of his great friend, Senator John McCain, an arch foe of the president both politically and personally. McCain continued to denounce Trump until the end but his death has left a void, and the anti-Trump resistance in the Republican party is shrinking fast. Senator Ted Cruz, who also clashed bitterly with Trump during the election, has also thrown in his lot with the president.

Henry Olsen, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center thinktank in Washington, said: “Lindsey Graham has probably looked around and seen Jeff Flake leaving the Senate, Bob Corker leaving the Senate and Ben Sasse under siege and thought there’s not much mileage in being a Trump critic.”

Some observers speculate that Graham is worried about a populist challenger in the next South Carolina primary (in 2014, he won with 56%). Others suggest that he is eyeing a job in the Trump administration. Media reports have suggested that Sessions, much derided by Trump, and Jim Mattis, the defence secretary, might be gone with the next year. Graham could be a contender for either position.

Olsen added: “If there is a job in the administration he’s angling for, it’s defence secretary. I have a pretty strong impression Jim Mattis is going to be asked to leave. Lindsey Graham would be happy to close out his career with that.”

Kurt Bardella, a political columnist who switched allegiance from the Republican to the Democratic party, disagreed. “Lindsey Graham is auditioning to be the next attorney general of the United States,” he said.

Bill Galston, a former policy adviser to President Clinton, said he first became acquainted with Graham during the impeachment process. “There are many Lindsey Grahams,” he said. “I’ve been puzzled by his trajectory during the Trump administration. I have no explanation. In person he’s decent, moderate and humorous, but these attributes were not on display last week.”