Senior Republican Senator blasts Trump-Pelosi ‘sophomoric’ exchange

Washington: Senior Republican Senator Lindsey Graham slammed US President Donald Trump and Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s “sophomoric” back and forth, which recently saw Trump postponing Pelosi’s official travel to Brussels, Afghanistan, and Egypt.

Trump’s move on Thursday comes after Pelosi wrote to the President recommending a “delay” in the State of the Union address that is scheduled for January 29 or sending in his address to the Congress “in writing”.

“One sophomoric response does not deserve another. Speaker Pelosi’s threat to cancel the State of the Union is very irresponsible and blatantly political,” Graham tweeted on Thursday (local time).

Labelling Trump’s move as “inappropriate”, Graham further said, “President Trump denying Speaker Pelosi military travel to visit our troops in Afghanistan, our allies in Egypt and NATO is also inappropriate.”
“I am glad the Speaker wants to meet our troops and hear from our commanders and allies. I am very disappointed she’s playing politics with the State of the Union,” he further mentioned.

The Senator also highlighted, “I wish our political leadership could find the same desire to work for common goals as those who serve our nation in uniform and other capacities.”

The letters come in the wake of the ongoing partial government shutdown, which is the longest in US history and has affected 800,000 federal workers due to a lapse in funding.

Both Trump and Pelosi quoted the shutdown as reasons in their letters while delaying the official trip and the State of the Union address, respectively.

[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]