Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) hopes President Donald Trump will take a tough stance on election meddling as he prepares for his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling any claim to the contrary flat out false.

“I’m concerned when the president tweets, you know, Russia denies they meddled in our election,” Graham told NBC’s Chuck Todd Sunday on Meet the Press. “When they say they didn’t meddle, they’re lying, so I’m glad the president is going to confront Putin. Show him the evidence you got, Mr. President, because it’s overwhelming.”

Graham, who was being interviewed from Turkey, added that while the U.S. has taken punitive action against Russia for its behavior, he believes election interference will rear its head again during the midterms.

“In many ways this administration has been tough on Russia,” he told Todd. “We’ve armed the Ukraine, we’ve imposed sanctions, we’ve kicked out diplomats, but the idea that Russia did not meddle in our election is fake news. They did meddle in our election and they’re doing it again in 2018.”

Aside from meddling, the senator also wants the president to address Putin’s growing power, noting that while Russia, not President Barack Obama, was to blame for the taking of Crimea, Trump must ensure the same fate doesn’t befall Syria.

“It’s up to President Trump to make sure that we don’t give Russia and Iran Syria,” he said. “We’ve allowed ISIS to rise by leaving Iraq. We’ve now got ISIS in a good spot but a lot of people over here [in Turkey] are very worried about leaving Syria and giving it to the Iranians and the Russians, which would throw the whole region into chaos.”

Trump’s meeting with Putin is set to occur on July 16.

Watch the clip above, via NBC.

[Image via screengrab]

Follow Amy Russo on Twitter: @amymrusso

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