Lindsey Graham Says He Won’t Vote For Either Donald Trump Or Hillary Clinton

Lindsey Graham has been as outspoken as any as any Republicans when it comes to opposing Donald Trump. Despite his opposition to what now looks like the presumptive nominee for the GOP in this year’s presidential race, Lindsey Graham isn’t anything close to a Hillary Clinton supporter either. Not being able to find anyone he can support, Senator Graham of South Carolina has decided he just won’t vote for anybody come November.

Graham made the pronouncement in an official statement to the media, according to CNN. In the statement, Graham said he could not, in good conscience, “support Donald Trump because I do not believe he is a reliable Republican conservative nor has he displayed the judgment and temperament to serve as Commander in Chief.” Sitting out the election isn’t the only thing Graham is going to do to oppose Trump.

South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham: I won’t vote for #DonaldTrump https://t.co/w20AC5yl1g

— Bob Reid (@rhreid) May 6, 2016

Lindsey Graham is joining a growing list of Republican bigwigs who will not be attending the party’s nominating convention in Cleveland this summer. Those who share Graham’s opinions include former Presidents George H.W. and George W. Bush, Mitt Romney, and John McCain. The list of GOP luminaries expected to skip Cleveland altogether looks to only increase now that Donald Trump will be getting the official party stamp of approval.

Lindsey Graham might have more to dislike Trump for than the other names on the list, as the two were briefly rivals for the presidential nod. Graham ran for President of the United States as one of more than a dozen candidates. Unable to secure much in the way of support during the primary process, Lindsey Graham dropped out before the race got going. It was apparent early on the two had a fundamental dislike for one another.

Lindsey Graham Says He Won't Support Donald Trump https://t.co/VkcGh7wBvM

— renard (@renard334) May 6, 2016

Graham was one of the first to launch an attack against Trump, telling voters they should tell the New Yorker to “go to hell.” Donald Trump returned volley by publishing Graham’s personal cell phone number and telling his supporters to call it. The rhetoric was dialed up when Graham called Trump a race-baiter and a xenophobic, religious bigot. Lindsey Graham wasn’t the only Republican to question Donald Trump’s conservative credentials; the very first candidate to do that was former Texas governor Rick Perry. Perry has long since dropped out of the campaign and more recently endorsed the New Yorker.

“He is not a perfect man. But what I do believe is that he loves this country and he will surround himself with capable, experienced people and he will listen to them.”

Perry told CNN on Thursday. With his pronouncement that he won’t be voting for either candidate, it doesn’t appear Graham is going to have the same change of heart. As Breitbart points out, Graham was featured prominently in a new attack ad released by the Clinton campaign. The ad was released shortly after Ted Cruz dropped out of the race and just before John Kasich did the same.

It appears the Clinton camp wants to make sure they don’t waste any time going on the offensive against a man who has not been able to unite the party behind him so far. Lindsey Graham has worked with Hillary Clinton in the past, but he said he cannot vote for her in the general election. Among other reasons, Lindsey Graham said voting for Clinton would be a third term for Barack Obama. While Lindsey Graham is seen as a moderate Republican in today’s Washington establishment, he’s still been a vocal critic of the sitting president. In the statement, Lindsey Graham issued on Friday, he did say his opposition did not mean he wouldn’t support down ticket Republicans who need his support in the upcoming election.

[Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images]