Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is facing a primary challenger that could tempt many of his former supporters, according to an article from the Washington Post.
“I feel like he just flows with the wind. I really do. Which is not a good thing,” Jane Rabon, a Republican who came to hear Graham speak in the Sun City retirement community, told the Post. “Sometimes I just want to reach out and smack him.”
Graham, along with his friend the late John McCain, was once viewed as a steadfast voice on foreign policy.
Now, the 69-year-old is navigating between the old-school foreign policy views that formed him — and the very different political demands of President Donald Trump.
Another voter at the town hall, Bruni Baker, said Graham is “kind of a RINO,” which means Republican in Name Only. “I have written him letters when I’m really p----ed at him,” she added.
Mark Salter, McCain’s former speechwriter, said Graham was spouting nonsense he did not believe as “Trump fluffery.”
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“People do what they have to do with Trump, but Lindsey’s reputation was built on his foreign policy views,” Salter said.
“The idea that foreign leaders have respect for Trump’s strength is laughable,” Salter told the Post. “He’s destroying the world order that people like John McCain and, once upon a time, Lindsey Graham … built and resulted in the United States being one of the most powerful and wealthy countries on Earth.”
Trump endorsed Graham, saying, the senator, “has always been there when I needed him.”
Graham said, “This is his last term, and I won’t be around forever, and I’m trying to help him.”
How much longer he will be able to is up to the voters in the Palmetto State. Businessman Mark Lynch is a primary challenger for Graham and is hoping to capitalize on the unrest among the base.
“Trump’s endorsement of Lindsey Graham means nothing to South Carolina because we all know Lindsey,” Lynch said.
