If indeed there is some truth behind every joke, as per conventional wisdom, then Senator Lindsey Graham just dumped a mountain of gospel on Donald Trump and other candidates for the GOP nomination. A report by MSNBC indicates that the one-time presidential contender roundly skewered all of his former rivals at the Washington Press Club Foundation Dinner on Thursday night. Using some colorful terminology and hyperbole, Graham lamented the state of his own party in what has become a chaotic election cycle.
“My party has gone bats**t crazy,” Graham laughed as he launched into a stinging critique of his fellow Republicans. The quip was met by raucous applause from the audience.
Graham followed by lambasting Ted Cruz, who has been largely portrayed by the media and his opponents as disliked by many. It’s worth noting that even one of Cruz’s former college roommates has shared such sentiments, running a twitter feed in which he shares stories about the Texas senator’s purportedly stuffy personality and unpleasant demeanor. Judging from Lindsey Graham’s assessment of Cruz, his impressions are comparably unfavorable.
“If you kill Ted Cruz on the floor of the Senate, and the trial was in the Senate, nobody could convict you,” Graham said of his colleague.
Lindsey Graham also threw some shade at GOP frontrunner Donald Trump as something to a callback to their clashes on the campaign trail. While he began his roast of the GOP field by suggesting that the Republicans would eventually capitulate to Hillary Clinton in the general election, Graham later suggested that it would be for the best if Trump would leave the race sooner rather than later. Recalling that Jeb Bush dropped out of the race shortly after he received an endorsement from Graham, the South Carolina Republican announced that he now endorses Donald Trump in hopes “the Graham magic still exists!”
Donald Trump has made it crystal clear on a number of occasions that he is no fan of Lindsey Graham. Well after Graham dropped out of the race, Trump lambasted Graham at a campaign event in the senator’s home state.
“I think Lindsey Graham is a disgrace , and I think you have one of the worst representatives of any representative in the United States, and I don’t think he should run,” Trump said in comments transcribed by Politico . “I don’t think he could run for dog catcher in this state and win again. I really don’t. Other than that, I think he’s wonderful.”
To be sure, much of Graham’s rhetoric was decidedly tongue-in-cheek. But he did have a number of solemn moments, particularly when expressing his belief that the Republicans cannot beat the Democrats in November, especially given the current tack of things with respect to the GOP.
There’s no love lost between Graham and a number of the remaining candidates, including Donald Trump who once gave away Graham’s personal cell phone number during a press conference. Graham later posted a video of himself destroying the phone and publicly referred to Trump as a “the world’s biggest jackass.”
During an interview in December, Lindsey Gram also mocked Donald Trump’s signature campaign slogan “ Make America Great Again ” in an interview with CNN .
“You know how you make America great again? Tell Donald Trump to go to hell,” Graham said.
Despite concerns expressed by Lindsey Graham and others, Donald Trump’s campaign has taken on virtually insurmountable momentum over the course of recent weeks. Aggregate polling data from Real Clear Politics indicates that Donald Trump should expect a number of decisive victories on Super Tuesday .
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