House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's decision to call off President Donald Trump's State of the Union speech is "absurd, petty, and shameful," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Wednesday.
"Speaker Pelosi's decision not to invite President Trump to deliver the State of the Union address sets a new low for American politics," Graham said in a statement.
"The President – regardless of party – should have the opportunity to address the American people in the State of the Union address from the traditional venue of the U.S. House of Representatives."
Pelosi earlier in the day told Trump he would not be allowed to deliver the SOTU in the chamber of the House of Representatives until the 33-day partial government shutdown had ended.
"Again, I look forward to welcoming you to the House on a mutually agreeable date for this address when government has been opened," Pelosi told Trump in her letter.
Trump said Pelosi made the move because "she doesn't want to hear the truth."
"Pelosi's decision to ignore this long-standing American tradition is absurd, petty, and shameful," Graham's statement concluded. "The judgment of history will not be kind."