Former President Donald Trump defended the honor of his “friend,” Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), at a rally in Graham’s home state on Monday by touting the senator’s popularity with Democrats via Media Ite.
“Another man who’s always there, he’s always — I’ll tell you what. When I need help on the left, he’s great. He’s great, and he’s my friend, too. Lindsey Graham, wherever you are. Lindsey?” began Trump to a cacophony of boos at a campaign rally in Summerville, South Carolina.
“Oh no, no!” shouted Trump back at the crowd. “He helps me on the left. We need help sometimes. Republicans shouldn’t need help on the left, but he helps me.”
Graham has long been reviled by the base of the Republican Party for some of his moderate positions, most notably on immigration. The longtime legislator ran a longshot bid for the presidency in 2016 and made headlines with his unsparing critiques of Trump at the time, calling him a “race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot.”
“You know how you make America great again? Tell Donald Trump to go to hell,” remarked Graham in 2015.
However, the senator cozied up to Trump after he moved into the White House, becoming one of the president’s staunchest allies in the upper chamber of Congress. After the January 6 Capitol riot in 2021, Graham briefly reverted to form, declaring, “All I can say is count me out. Enough is enough.”
But it took Graham only a few short months to declare his loyalty to Trump again.
“I hope President Trump runs again,” said Graham — who later endorsed Trump’s 2024 campaign in its crib — that September.
This isn’t the first time Trump has praised Graham for his liberal bona fides.
At another South Carolina rally earlier this summer, Trump responded to boos for Graham by observing, “You know, you can make mistakes on occasion. Even Lindsey down here, Senator Lindsey Graham.”
“I know, it’s half-and-half,” added Trump. “But when I need some of those liberal votes, he’s always there to help me get them, okay. We got some pretty liberal people, but he’s good.”
On X, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s campaign sought to use Trump’s praise of Graham to its advantage.
Trump tells South Carolinians to stop booing Lindsey Graham — who he inaccurately describes as “great” — and explains that Graham helps him appease Democrats.
“When I need help on the Left, he’s great!”
This is not the Donald Trump from 2016. pic.twitter.com/9UWD1FwiXb
— DeSantis War Room 🐊 (@DeSantisWarRoom) September 25, 2023
