Republican presidential candidate Sen. Lindsey Graham (SC) said in an interview with CNN on Tuesday that fellow candidate Donald Trump has tapped into the “dark side” of the GOP.
Graham was explaining how his rival has managed to dominate the Republican presidential race, polling as high as 35 percent depending on the survey. Graham said the support still represented a minority of the GOP.
“Twenty-five percent of our party that probably thinks Obama was born in Kenya or wants to believe that. There’s 25 percent of our party wants him to be a Muslim because they hate him so much,” Graham said. “So, there’s a dark side of politics that Mr. Trump is appealing to.”
Graham initially used the interview to defend his dismal poll numbers in his home state, South Carolina, but pivoted into a more specific attack on the GOP frontrunner. He said a Trump nomination would “kill” the GOP.
“The leader of our party has come up with a deportation plan that is Joseph McCarthy-like and he is saying things about Megyn Kelly and other women that are digging a big hole. And the chairman of our party said Trump was a net positive. Let me tell you, I think he’s hurting our party.”
He also said Trump’s plan to get rid of birthright citizenship was constitutionally unsound.
“He’s shallow. He’s ill-prepared to be commander in chief,” Graham said. “He doesn’t know what he’s talking about in terms of how our laws work. He says the worst things possible about immigrants and women. And he’s a complete idiot about Mideast policy.”
Trump’s strategy to defeat the Islamic State terrorist group, he said, was worse than President Obama’s, a strategy which which Graham has repeatedly voiced discontent.
Graham used some of his Southern charm to end the interview: “Come to South Carolina. I’ll beat his brains out.”
Nothing new here to see. Move along.
Hey a three-way!
Graham, Rinse Pubis and Trump! Just love how Graham realizes they are throwing away at light speed any chance of winning the presidency and likely the Senate.
I hope they keep up the b.s. as our slim chance of winning back the House in this election cycle starts to look better…much better.
Is there another side to the GOP?
Well, there is the fuck you if you can’t afford healthcare side. There is the fuck you if you can’t afford food side. There is the fuck you if you rely on social security side. There is the fuck you if you don’t want to pray to Jesus in school side. There is the fuck you and carry that rape baby to term side. There is the fuck you if you want sensible gun laws side. There is the fuck you if you aren’t white and want to vote side. There is the fuck you if you aren’t straight and want to be treated equal side.
Did I miss any sides?
Uh… sorry, Lindsey. A LOT more than 25% of your party thinks Obama is a Muslim, etc. About 25% of the electorate thinks that he at least might be… which amounts to a majority of Republicans. (Remember Walker about 2 weeks ago saying he “doesn’t know” if Obama is a Christian?) That’s why a majority of Republicans say they like and agree with Trump, despite his current sub-50% numbers in the polls. (The supposedly “moderate” candidates add up to a lot less than Trump, Carson, and Cruz put together).
Your party leadership has been happily stirring up this insanity for 6 years in the naive belief you could channel it into whatever direction the party money wanted. Guess what? You’ve led the base to expect “truth” like Trump’s. Now that they have it spewed at them directly, they like it… as you should have expected.
Oh, Lindsey, you really, really want to get drummed out of the party, don’t you.
Next debate, you won’t even get to sit at the kid’s table.