Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C) one of Donald Trump’s staunchest allies in the Senate, warned that the former president is at risk of losing the 2024 election if he continues to make personal attacks on Kamala Harris instead of focusing on policy issues.
Graham made the comment in an interview with NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ when asked by host Kristen Welker about Trump’s lack of discipline on the campaign trial.
“[Former] President Trump can win this election. His policies are good for America. And if you have a policy debate for president, he wins. Donald Trump, the provocateur, the showman, may not win this election,” Graham said.
“I’m looking for [Former] President Trump to show up in the last 80 days to define what he will do for our country, to fix broken borders, to lower inflation,” he added.
“The numbers that Americans are living with under Harris-Biden are terrible…50 percent increase in gas prices, mortgage rates are through the roof and grocery bills are really high,” Graham continued. “That’s what I would focus on. Policy. Policy is the key to the White House.”
Graham joins the growing list of Republicans urging Trump to lay off the personal attacks on Harris and focus on policy
Last week, Trump’s former GOP rival for the party’s nomination, Nikki Haley told Fox News that, “the campaign is not going to win talking about crowd sizes. It’s not going to win talking about what race Kamala Harris is. … Look, this is a winnable election. But you need to focus.”
The advice appears to have landed on deaf ears.
At a press conference at his Bedminster, N.J., golf club on Thursday, Trump told reporters that he is “entitled” to personal attacks on Harris.
“As far as the personal attacks, I’m very angry at her because of what she’s done to the country,” Trump said. “I think I’m entitled to personal attacks. I don’t have a lot of respect for her. I don’t have a lot of respect for her intelligence, and I think she’ll be a terrible president.”
“And I think it’s very important that we win,” Trump continued. “And whether the personal attacks are good, bad. She certainly attacks me personally. She actually called me weird.”
Trump went off-message again at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, telling his supporters that Biden “hates” Harris and that he is “much better looking” than she is.
On Sunday, Graham Trump’s allies should campaign on the former president’s behalf to help promote his policies.
“My view is that me and Nikki need to go to Georgia. We’re giving advice on TV to [former] President Trump, but he’s got a lot of critics, and he’s got a lot of advisers,’ he said. “But to Nikki Haley and [Florida Gov. Ron] DeSantis and [Virginia Gov. Glenn] Youngkin, and all of these great people we’ve got…let’s get together and actually campaign for the guy rather than just give advice.”
