“Every president’s had problems with the press. You need to do your job,” Graham said. | AP Photo Graham: A free press and judiciary 'worth fighting and dying for'

Sen. Lindsey Graham, responding Sunday to President Donald Trump’s harsh criticism of the media, called a free press and an independent judiciary “the backbone of democracy.”

“They’re worth fighting and dying for,” the Republican from South Carolina said on CBS' “Face the Nation.”


Graham, a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, pushed back against any notion that the United States is inching toward a dictatorship under Trump.

“When it comes to Trump, you’re over the top. You’re acting more like an opposition party," the senator told CBS host John Dickerson, referring to journalists.

“Every president’s had problems with the press. You need to do your job,” Graham went on. “But from a Republican point of view, I think the coverage against President Trump has been almost to the point of being hysterical and ya’ll need to do some self-evaluation.”

Graham, who ran unsuccessfully against Trump for the Republican presidential nomination, has spoken out against his approach to national security issues, including his recent executive order on immigration, and said the president has undermined confidence in the country’s democracy by perpetuating claims of widespread voter fraud.

"What bothers me most about POTUS is that he never seems to forcefully embrace the idea" that Russia interfered with the campaign, Graham said.