Senator Lindsey Graham defended former President Donald Trump after CNN anchor Jake Tapper questioned whether Trump is intentionally undermining his own 2024 election campaign with attacks on prominent political figures, including Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Tapper highlighted Trump’s recent controversial remarks, which included calling Shapiro an “overrated Jewish Governor” following the Democratic National Convention in Chicago and criticizing Harris and Georgia Republican Governor Brian Kemp. The CNN anchor floated the notion that these distractions might suggest Trump is deliberately sabotaging his chances in the upcoming election.
“Last week, former President Trump tried to respond to some of what was going on at the convention,” Tapper said. “He went after Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro as an ‘overrated Jewish Governor’ who should be supporting him because of Israel. He attacked Georgia Republican Governor Brian Kemp, and he called Vice President Harris lazy. What do you say to the analysis that this really is Donald Trump’s race to lose? But sometimes it looks like he’s trying to.”
Graham, however, downplayed the impact of Trump’s rhetoric, instead steering the conversation toward policy issues and Trump’s work in repairing relationships with key Republican governors like Brian Kemp.
“Well, I think the point is that he went to the border to talk about a broken border,” Graham said in defense of Trump. He also mentioned that the tensions between Trump and Kemp had been resolved, and that Kemp had come out strongly in support of Trump in Georgia. “If we don’t win Georgia, I don’t see how we get to 270. But I do believe, Georgia’s ours to lose.”
Graham emphasized that focusing on policy is the key to winning the election, citing issues like inflation and rising costs under the current administration. “The truth of the matter is the policies of the last four years have been miserable failures,” Graham said, adding that the economic hardships faced by voters would drive them away from re-electing Democrats.
When Tapper brought up Graham’s previous statement that Trump’s provocative behavior might hinder his chances in the election, Graham remained steadfast in his belief that policy would win the day. He also acknowledged Trump’s response to his critique, in which the former president said, “Look, I like Lindsey. I don’t care what he says.”
Trump dismissed the criticism, asserting that his endorsement was key to Graham’s re-election in South Carolina. “Lindsey is my friend. But if I didn’t endorse him, he would have had no chance of getting elected,” Trump said.
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3 Responses
Trump lost in 2020 because of his mouth! He’s setting-up a repeat scenario! He cannot control his mouth and that will cost him votes as it had in 2020. The name calling is so kindergarten style. סייג לחכמה שתיקה.
In what universe is attacking your opponent in a race, as Harris, Shapiro and everyone else at the DNC, a sign that you are “intentionally trying to sabotage” your chances? Who wrote this article?
This statement can be tested with real world data. If true, Trump should be rising in the polls. In truth, compared to Joe Biden (who was forced to retire by personal attacks), Harris is much improved. This suggests, but doesn’t prove, that mockery and personal attacks is not a successful campaign technique, and that Trump/Vance should instead focus on attacking their opponents political views by discussing their substance, even though the Harris/Walz record of past positions and proposals do lend themselves to mockery. Trump and Vance should politely explain why their opponents are foolish and unwise radicals whose policies would undermine the country socially and economically.