Sen. Lindsey Graham said Americans should look at “the record rather than the rhetoric” when it comes to former President Donald Trump.

The South Carolina Republican, asked about retired Gen. John Kelly’s comments likening Mr. Trump to a fascist, said the general is “entitled to his opinion, I just categorically reject it.”

Gen. Kelly, who served in the Trump White House as chief of staff, also claims the former president has expressed his admiration for Adolph Hitler.

Mr. Graham was skeptical.

“Three weeks before the election, your calling basically Trump ’Hitler,’ ’a fascist,’ is not going to resonate,” Mr. Graham said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.” “What happened to joy on the Democratic side? They went from joy to now Trump is Hitler. That’s desperation.”

Mr. Graham slammed Mr. Kelly, saying his “criticisms are not based on facts” but instead are “emotional.”

“I would say that the state of Israel, Donald Trump is the most popular politician from the West because he stood by the state of Israel. Hitler wanted to kill all the Jews. President Trump has been a friend of Israel, unlike any other,” Mr. Graham said. “So, no wars on his watch, the border was secure, inflation was down, mortgage rates were below 3% when President Trump was president. Now, they’ve over doubled.”

When host Jonathan Karl mentioned that Mr. Kelly isn’t the only former Trump administration official who has spoken out against the former president, Mr. Graham doubled down.

“Let’s look at the record rather than the rhetoric. Nobody rebuilt the military stronger than Donald Trump except maybe Ronald Reagan. Nobody I’ve seen him — listen, I’ve had a lot of interaction with him so I categorically reject the idea that he has anything but admiration for those who serve in sacrifice. I have seen him interact with the military,” he said. “So this idea he’s hostile to those who serve is not borne out. When he was president, America was strong. The military had what they needed. We went after our enemies. People were afraid of America.”

He said Mr. Trump is the best bet to get America back on the right track.

“With all due respect to these generals, America is ready to move differently and Donald Trump is the best hope to put out the fires in the world to end the war in Ukraine to bring about peace in the Mideast, to restore broken border and get the economy humming,” he said. “He did it once. He can did it — do it again.”