Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., described former President Donald Trump as “a cross between Jesse Helms, Ronald Reagan, and P.T. Barnum,” and said he should remain a part of the Republican Party.
“Donald Trump was my friend before the [Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol] riot,” Graham told “Axios on HBO” host Jonathan Swan in an interview that aired Sunday. “I’m trying to keep a relationship with him after the riot. I still consider him a friend. What happened was a dark day in American history. And we’re going to move forward.”
Graham went on to say that the best way for the GOP to move ahead is “with Trump, not without Trump.”
When Swan countered that Trump is “still telling everyone he won” the 2020 presidential election “in a landslide,” Graham replied: “I tell him every day that he wants to listen that I think the main reason he probably lost in Arizona was he was beating on the dead guy called John McCain,” the late GOP senator from Arizona.
Swan also asked why Graham doesn't move away from Trump given he doesn’t face reelection until 2026.
“Yeah, I could throw him over tomorrow … I could say, you know, that’s it’s over, it’s done," Graham said. "That’s just too easy. What’s hard is to take a movement that I think is good for the country, trying to get the leader of the movement, who’s got lots of problems facing him and the party and see if we can make a go of it.”
Graham added that previous GOP presidential nominees such as Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, in 2012 and McCain in 2008 “didn’t do it."
"There’s something about Trump," he said. "There’s a dark side. And there’s some magic there. What I’m trying to do is just harness the magic.”
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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