Lindsey Graham tells 'The View' that Donald Trump is no longer a 'xenophobic, race-baiting, religious bigot' because he's the president

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) famously called President Donald Trump "a xenophobic, race-baiting, religious bigot" during the 2016 campaign. But now, he's changing his tune.

During the Monday political panel with "The View," the hosts all wanted to know if he agreed that Trump is "a really stable genius," as he claimed on Twitter over the weekend.

"The first thing I want to tell you is he beat me like a drum," Graham said, not answering the question. "He ran against 17 Republicans and crushed us all. He ran against the Clinton machine and won. So, all I can say is you can say anything you want to say about the guy. I said it was xenophobic, race-baiting religious bigot. I ran out of things to say. He won. He's our president."

He ultimately concluded that if Trump "doesn't call himself a genius, nobody else will."

Guest host Ana Navarro asked Graham if he still believed those things about Trump.

"In my view, he's my president and doing a good job on multiple fronts," Graham said, also not answering the question.

"But, you didn't answer the question, senator," Hostin called Graham.

"No, I don't think so, he's my president," Graham replied.

"You don't think he is a xenophobic, race-baiting, religious bigot?" co-host Joy Behar asked.

"Not as president," Graham said, seeming to explain the only thing that has changed is Trump's title.

In an earlier part of the interview, Graham explained the reason he is demanding an investigation into Christopher Steele and the dossier is because Steele gave the dossier to the FBI. At that point, it seems Graham believes Steele became an informant for the FBI, though it's never been reported Steele was a paid informant on the books for the FBI. As Graham said, Fusion GPS is attributed as the main source of the funding for the Steele dossier after the Republican Party stopped paying Steele.

Graham said that this was a conflict of interest for an FBI informant to be speaking to the press. However, Steele was never an FBI informant paid to compile the dossier on Trump by the American government. He was paid by political sources and felt the dossier was important enough to also give to the FBI.

Watch the full interview below: