Earlier today, Lindsey Graham was whinging about the malevolent influence he thinks White House adviser Steven Miller has on immigration negotiations:

Senator Lindsey Graham made remarks to reporters today singling out White House advisor Stephen Miller for criticism regarding the ongoing immigration negotiations.

Per Politico, Graham told reporters earlier this afternoon, “As long as Stephen Miller is in charge of negotiating immigration, we are going nowhere. He’s been an outlier for years.”

He also told reporters, in video that aired on CNN, is that Miller’s “view of immigration has never been in the mainstream of the Senate.”

“We’re never gonna get there as long as we embrace concepts,” Graham continued, “that cannot possibly get 60 votes. One of the concepts that I just completely reject is that we have too much legal immigration.”

Miller is a bit more hardcore on immigration than I am but I’m much more in sync with Miller than I am with Graham who not only is a weak-sister on immigration but too anxious by half to ingratiate himself with any Democrat. Blaming a White House staffer for the shutdown is so dishonest that there aren’t words to describe it. DACA was only an issue that had to be addressed right now for a small number of liberal Democrats. What is before them right now is a clean continuing resolution.

Further, there are a lot of people in the House and Senate who totally reject the grotesque document Graham has signed onto as part of the “gang of six.” It can only pass the Senate if McConnell relies on Democrat votes and it doesn’t pass the House in any form. If it does pass Congress, Trump will veto it because John Kelly and Steven Miller oppose it.

What makes this so inexplicable and odious is that the GOP has the Democrats on the ropes on funding the government and Graham has reacted to a potential victory by blaming the White House and a White House adviser who Trump likes for not reaching an immigration agreement that wasn’t even on the table.

Now the White House has fired back:

WH spox Hogan Gidley on Graham remarks about Stephen Miller: As long as Senator Graham chooses to support legislation that sides with people in this country illegally and unlawfully instead of our own American citizens, we are going nowhere. He’s been an outlier for years.

— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) January 21, 2018

Note how Graham is referred to in exactly the same terms as he used for Miller.

I don’t know what kind of a scheme Graham and his fellow travelers have cooked up but I’m sure that Graham’s statements about Miller have effectively destroyed any chance of it being acceptable to the president.