GOP candidate Lindsey Graham said Monday that he doesn't mind being asked hard and challenging questions in the Republican debates, but some of the questions have been "downright silly."
"The second debate went on too long, and the last debate was just a complete food fight," the South Carolina senator told
CNN's "New Day" show Monday. "We're trying to take control of the process."
Over the weekend, representatives from Graham's campaign met with those from most of the other candidates to push for changes in the debate process, and Graham believes that as a result, the process will get better.
"CNN has a debate coming down the road, and I hope CNN will look at it and evenly divide it, seven and seven, whatever the numbers are then, and give everybody a fair shot," said Graham. "Ask us all the hard questions. You can understand who we are better in smaller groups."
However, he disagrees with another candidate, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who said this weekend that only people who have voted in a Republican primary should get to moderate a GOP debate.
"Journalists are not supposed to be Republicans or Democrats," Graham said. "I know there's media bias. You know there's media bias. But I thought the CNN debate was a well-done debate by Jake Tapper."
Graham continued that he wants to "grow the party," and to do that, Republicans will have to be challenged by people who are not in their party. Further, he does not think the problem is that the moderators are biased, but that they favor "gotcha" questions.
The next debate will be held on the Fox Business Network.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.