Lindsey Graham’s got jokes.

Graham’s high-energy sass was a highlight of the Republican presidential race, and the only thing that made the undercard debates (RIP) worth watching. While the Republican candidates were wildly gesticulating and shouting over one another last night, Graham was roasting his GOP colleagues and pretty much everyone else at the Washington Press Club. 

Some of the jokes were typical roast-fare, which is to say that they were corny as hell. Quips like this, about Marco Rubio, would make Jay Leno blush: “I’m not saying he would change his positions, but he would change his positions. The Secret Service’s main job if he’s president is to keep him hydrated.” But when Graham got his claws out, things got real. 

But the highlight of the night was undoubtedly this Everybody Hates Ted joke: “If you killed Ted Cruz on the floor of the Senate, and the trial was in the Senate, no one would convict you.”

If Graham’s entire routine was a little too real, this joke was the too realest of all.