Axios’s Jonathan Swan did not disappoint while interviewing Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Sunday. The reporter’s incredulous facial expressions were reminiscent of Donald Trump’s interview that turned him into a viral meme. The South Carolina Republican told Swan that he thinks that former President Donald Trump can make the GOP “bigger” and “stronger,” or he “could destroy it.”
Graham said that the former president has a “dark side,” but he added that he tries to “harness the magic” because he succeeded where GOP candidates like John McCain and Mitt Romney failed.
“What I’m tryin’ to do is just harness the magic,” Graham said. “To me, Donald Trump is sort of a cross between Jesse Helms, Ronald Reagan, and P.T. Barnum.”
“He could make the Republican Party something that nobody else I know can make it,” he continued. “He can make it bigger. He can make it stronger. He can make it more diverse. And he also could destroy it.”
Stay up-to-date with the latest news!
Subscribe and start recieving our daily emails.
Swan didn’t seem to buy into Graham encouraging the former president to run again in 2024.
“I just don’t understand how you could — you don’t really believe that, do you? You’re just BSing so he doesn’t go off and form a third party?” Swan said.
“A third party would be a disaster,” Graham admitted.
“I know it. That’s what you’re doing. You’re stroking his ego,” Swan shot back.
Graham then tried to explain how he’s still friends with Trump even after the Jan. 6 deadly insurrection that the former president incited.
“Donald Trump was my friend before the riot,” Graham said. “And I’m trying to keep a relationship with him after the riot. I still consider him a friend. What happened was a dark day in American history, and we’re going to move forward, so here’s what you need to know about me. I’m going to continue — I want us to continue the policies that I think will make America strong. I believe that the best way for the Republican Party to do that is with Trump, not without Trump.”
Swan reminded Graham that Trump still tells people that he won the election last November, even though that’s not true at all.
“And I still tell him every day that he wants to listen that the main reason he probably lost in Arizona is beatin’ on the dead guy called John McCain,” Graham said.
Watch:
Interestingly, Graham brought up his old friend John McCain even though he failed to stand up for him after each time Trump lashed out at the late Arizona Republican.
Featured image via screen capture
