President Donald Trump said Lindsey Graham "can't forget his election trouncing." | Alex Brandon/AP Trump hammers Lindsey Graham's 'disgusting lie' over Charlottesville criticism

President Donald Trump slammed Sen. Lindsey Graham Thursday, calling the South Carolina senator’s criticism of his handling of the deadly white supremacist rally last weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia, “a disgusting lie.”

“Publicity seeking Lindsey Graham falsely stated that I said there is moral equivalency between the KKK, neo-Nazis & white supremacists and people like Ms. Heyer,” Trump wrote online, breaking his message up into two posts. “Such a disgusting lie. He just can't forget his election trouncing. The people of South Carolina will remember!”


Heather Heyer, 32, was killed Saturday when a man drove his car into a crowd of anti-white supremacist protesters, an incident that also left 19 people injured. Her memorial service was held Wednesday, a ceremony that Trump marked by writing online that Heyer was "a truly special young woman. She will be long remembered by all!"

Trump, in a press conference Tuesday afternoon, doubled-down on statements he had made over the weekend about the clashes between white supremacists and the protesters gathered to oppose them, telling reporters that blame should be shared between both sides and that there were “very fine people” in both groups.

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His unwillingness to outright blame the hate groups that marched Friday and Saturday in Charlottesville prompted an almost unanimous rebuke not just from Democrats, but from Republicans as well, including Graham (R-S.C.), a 2016 GOP primary candidate and frequent critic of the president’s, who said in a statement, “Through his statements yesterday, President Trump took a step backward by again suggesting there is moral equivalency between the white supremacist neo-Nazis and KKK members who attended the Charlottesville rally and people like Ms. Heyer. I, along with many others, do not endorse this moral equivalency.”

“Mr. President, like most I seek to move our nation, my state, and our party forward - toward the light - not back to the darkness Your tweet honoring Miss Heyer was very nice and appropriate. Well done," Graham said in a Thursday morning statement released by his office in response to Trump's flurry of tweets. “However, because of the manner in which you have handled the Charlottesville tragedy you are now receiving praise from some of the most racist and hate-filled individuals and groups in our country. For the sake of our Nation — as our President — please fix this. History is watching us all.”

In a follow-up post to Twitter, the president also complained that his comments regarding the hate-fueled violence over the weekend had been purposely misrepresented to the public by the media.

“The public is learning (even more so) how dishonest the Fake News is. They totally misrepresent what I say about hate, bigotry etc. Shame!” he wrote.