Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said today that Caitlyn Jenner is welcome in the Republican Party — and is welcome to cast a vote for Graham 2016.
Bruce Jenner, before his transgender transformation into Caitlyn, revealed his GOP preference to ABC at the same time he came out in April. He recently revealed his post-surgical self on the cover of Vanity Fair.
This morning on CNN, Graham was asked about the comments of a conservative talk show host in Iowa.
“If we’re not going to defend as a party basic principles of male and female, that life is sacred because it comes from God, then you’re going to lose the vast majority of people who’ve joined that party,” Steve Deace said on his show, stressing that Republicans “might as well just forfeit the 2016 election now” if they don’t speak out against Jenner.
“If Caitlyn Jenner wants to be safe and have a prosperous economy, vote for me,” Graham said.
“I’m into addition. I have not walked in her shoes. I don’t have all the answers to the mysteries of life. I can only imagine the torment that Bruce Jenner went through,” the senator said.
“I hope he is — I hope she has found peace. I’m a pro-life, traditional marriage kind of guy, but I’m running to be president of the United States. If Caitlyn Jenner wants to be a Republican, she is welcome in my party.”
Graham said he believes “in traditional marriage without animosity.”
“The courts are going to rule probably in June about traditional marriage. I will accept the court decision. I will proudly defend the unborn, but if we can’t agree on abortion, let’s talk about taxes. We are literally all in this together. We are going to rise and fall as a nation as to whether or not we deal with the retirement of the baby boomers,” he continued. “It’s going to wipe out Social Security and Medicare and take the whole economy down with it. We need to do what Ronald Reagan and Tip O’Neill did when it came to compromise on the entitlement programs. And we need to fight radical Islam together.”
“Here is what I would say to the talk show host. In the eyes of radical Islam, they hate you as much as they hate Caitlyn Jenner. They hate us all because we won’t agree to their view of religion. So, America, we are all in this together.”
Asked about Jenner this morning on ABC, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said, “Well, I think it’s a personal decision. And to me, I don’t know that there’s anything more to comment on. It’s just a personal decision.”
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