Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who once likened the choice between Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to being shot or poisoned, respectively, noted this morning that “maybe they will find an antidote to poisoning.”
“It’s hard once you’re shot to get over it,” he added.
Graham is hosting a fundraiser for Cruz on Monday during the AIPAC conference.
While he’s backing Cruz, though, he stressed to CBS’ Face the Nation that he doesn’t think the Texas senator is the most electable Republican in November.
“The bottom line is that I believe Donald Trump would be an absolute, utter disaster for the Republican Party, destroy conservatism as we know it. We’d get wiped out, and it would take generations to overcome a Trump candidacy,” Graham said.
“Ronald Reagan had the three-legged stool of conservative, fiscal, social, and strong national security. Donald Trump has a four-legged stool because he’s the Donald. It’s got to be bigger. Economic populism, xenophobia, race-baiting, and religious bigotry are the stool that he has formed. That is his campaign. That is not conservatism.”
Cruz, he said, “is a real Republican who I often disagree with.”
“I’m supporting Ted because I think he’s the best alternative to Donald Trump.”
But, Graham noted, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who polls highest nationwide versus Hillary Clinton or Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), “is the most electable Republican.”
“I don’t know he has a chance to win at the convention, because it’s an outsider year, and John Kasich is an insider, and most of the delegates are looking for an outsider,” Graham said. “I love John Kasich, but if he stays in this race, or they don’t coordinate the efforts between Cruz and Kasich, we’re going to wind up giving the nomination to Trump.”
He offered his theory on why Trump’s illegal immigration stance, which brought many primary voters to his side, would implode in the general election.
“Here is why we’re losing the Hispanic vote. Nobody is going to listen to you about your economic plan or your ability to defend the nation if you’re going to deport their grandmother,” Graham said. “I’m in the party of family values. And I like that. There are 11 million illegal immigrants; 60 percent have been here a decade. Many of them have American children, American citizen children and grandchildren. What do you think is going to happen to my Republican friends if our position is that we’re going to take the grandmother of an American citizen, member of the military who is illegal?”
“How do we get that person to vote for us if we’re going to deport their grandmother, when all she’s done is violate the immigration laws? This is why we’re getting killed with Hispanics. And Mr. Trump has taken every problem we have had with Hispanics and poured gasoline on it.”
Asked if he won’t vote for Trump if the real-estate mogul is the nominee, Graham replied, “Ask me after the convention that question.”
“We can lose an election, but I don’t want us to lose our heart and soul. If we nominate Donald Trump, and he carries the banner of the Republican Party, given who he is and what he said about immigrants, about Muslims and young women, we will not just lose the election. We have lost the heart and soul of the conservative movement. That’s what is at stake. And I hope John Kasich is listening,” he continued.
“John, if I thought you could win, I would be behind you, because you are the most electable candidate. Work with Ted to deny Trump 1,237 or 1,239, or whatever the number is. And if you’re not willing to work with Ted, then you’re hurting the cause. By Kasich going to Utah, you’re making it harder for Ted to get 50 percent.”
Asked which is more complicated, the future of the Middle East or the Republican Party, Graham quipped, “There’s a pathway forward in the Mideast. I don’t see one right now for the Republican Party.”
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