Topline

As many politicians—including President Biden—applaud the conviction of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin as a step toward combating racial bias in policing, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Sunday he does not believe systemic racism exists in law enforcement or other U.S. institutions.

Key Facts

“No, not in my opinion,” the South Carolina Republican said when asked by Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace whether he believes U.S. institutions are impacted by systemic racism, instead describing racist incidents as the consequence of “bad actors.”

Graham pointed to the election of former President Barack Obama and Vice President Kamala Harris as evidence of the fact that “America is not racist,” saying: “We just elected a two-term African American president … the vice president is of African American, Indian descent.”

As for the Chauvin trial, Graham described the ex-cop’s conviction on murder charges for George Floyd’s death as the “just result,” but condemned what he described as an “attack on policing.”

“Reform the police yes, call them all racists no,” Graham said, adding: “Within every society you have bad actors.” 

Graham said he believes lawmakers can reach a bipartisan compromise on policing reform if Democrats are willing to modify their call to end qualified immunity, a legal principle that protects police officers accused of violating the Constitution while on duty.

He said he would support a provision where departments—not officers—can be sued.

Crucial Quote

“Qualified immunity is a problem,” Graham said. “It’s a pretty simple solution: Don’t sue the police officer, sue the department.”

Key Background

Graham is bucking a broad acknowledgement of lingering systemic inequalities within the U.S. at a time when a series of police killings of Black men and women have heightened calls for reform. The issue became highly politicized under the Trump administration as the former president painted Democrats calling for policing reform amid global protests as anti-law enforcement. Unlike Trump, who denied the existence of systemic racism in the U.S., Biden has deemed it a priority of his administration to combat what he described as a “stain on our nation’s soul.” During remarks made after a jury found Chauvin guilty on all counts, Biden said the former officer’s murder of Floyd “ripped the blinders off for the whole world to see” the systemic racism that still exists in the U.S. “The systemic racism that is a stain on our nation’s soul; the knee on the neck of justice for Black Americans; the profound fear and trauma, the pain, the exhaustion that Black and brown Americans experience every single day,” Biden said.