WASHINGTON – Sen. Lindsey Graham is well-aware of his reputation as an alarmist.

There have been comedy sketches — think Jon Stewart’s “Nightmare on Graham Street” — and commentaries that the South Carolina Republican peddles a foreign policy based on fear.

“We’re walking down the road to Armageddon,” he said six years ago about Iran’s nuclear program in one of his many Sunday talk-show appearances.

Running for president has not softened his tone. Graham, one of 17 vying to be the Republican nominee in 2016, still includes a heavy dose of doom and gloom in his stock speech, even as he smiles in the sunshine of his hometown to announce his candidacy.

“The world is exploding in terror and violence,” Graham said when he launched his campaign in June.

His top two concerns are radical Islamic terrorism and a nuclear-armed Iran, both of which threaten American security and the stability of the Middle East. He calls for a generational commitment of intervention to eradicate the former, and overwhelming military force to disarm the latter.

In a major foreign policy speech last month, Graham said as president he would deploy 16,500 troops in Iraq and Syria, keep at least 9,800 in Afghanistan and bomb Iran’s nuclear and military infrastructure to prevent them from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

“The only reason 3,000 of us died on Sept. 11 and not 3 million is because they couldn't get the weapons to kill 3 million of us,” Graham said. “When they say death to Israel, death to America, I don't believe they're kidding.”

On Wednesday, he criticized fellow GOP candidate Jeb Bush for not committing to deploy ground troops to battle Islamic State fighters.

“In my view, those reluctant to call for boots on the ground, the only strategy that ensures a stable Middle East and a secure America, are not prepared to be commander in chief,” Graham said in a statement.

The liberal People for the American Way said Graham is creating anxiety to win votes.

“While no one doubts the threat of terrorist groups such as al-Qaida and ISIS, Graham has played up wild fears as part of his naked political ambition to frame himself as the security candidate,” the group wrote in its criticism of the 2016 Republican field.

Graham defends the tough talk without apology.

“The threats I’ve outlined are either true or they’re not. I think most Americans understand that if they will cut a 3-year-old kid’s head off, that’s not good for us,” Graham said last month. “If you’re too tired to defend this country, if you are too war weary, don’t vote for me.”

If his stridency has surprised people on the presidential campaign trail, it is familiar to South Carolina residents. Graham’s hawkish platform and advocacy for increased military spending has been rewarded by voters in his home state for 23 years.

“It plays well in South Carolina where you have a strong military establishment … but it also plays well in certain parts of the Pentagon,” said Bruce Haynes, a Republican consultant who has worked in South Carolina politics. “He’s not doing anything to hurt him in his base home state and he’s not doing anything to hurt himself as a potential defense secretary.”

Haynes, president of the bipartisan public affairs consulting firm Purple Strategies in Virginia, is not affiliated with any 2016 presidential candidate.

“I think (Graham) has a fundamental view of the world that you lead through strength,” said Haynes. “He believes the current administration and a (Hillary) Clinton administration would be defined by weakness, and authentically, it galls him.”