- Senator Lindsey Graham told Axios on HBO that he still thinks Donald Trump is good for the Republican Party.
- Graham said Trump has a “dark side” but also a “magic” that other Republicans don’t.
- He said that Trump can make the GOP stronger and more diverse, but that he “can also destroy it”.
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In an interview with “Axios on HBO” that aired on Sunday, Senator Lindsey Graham said that former President Donald Trump has a “dark side” and a “magic” that other Republicans do not.
The South Carolina senator became a close ally of the president during his four years in office, but he doesn’t always follow Trump the way some of his supporters do. While he opposed impeachment after the Capitol rebellion, Graham said Trump “needs to understand that his actions were the problem.”
When Jonathan Swan of Axios asked Graham why he still supports Trump, the senator said he still believes Trump’s move is good for the country.
“Mitt Romney did not do that, John McCain did not – there is something about Trump. There is a dark side and there is some magic there,” said Graham. “What I’m trying to do is just enjoy the magic.”
—Axios (@axios) March 7, 2021
Since the siege of the United States Capitol by a pro-Trump crowd, some Republicans in Congress are divided over how the party should move forward. While the vast majority voted against impeachment, 10 representatives voted for impeachment and seven senators voted to condemn Trump.
Still, Graham told Axios that he thinks the best way for the Republican party to move forward with its agenda is “with Trump, not without Trump”.
“He could make the Republican Party something that no one else I know could do,” said Graham. “It could make it bigger, it could make it stronger, it could make it more diverse. And it could also destroy it.”
Graham told reporters last month that he was meeting with Trump to discuss the future of the Republican Party. He said he wanted to convince Trump to help Republicans retake majorities in Congress in 2022, but that they would need the party to come together.
“If it’s about revenge and chasing people you don’t like, we’re going to have a problem,” said Graham, who would tell Trump.
At the Conservative Political Action Conference last week, Trump called on the Republicans who voted for his nominal impeachment, sparking boos from the crowd.
Trump also told Politico on Saturday that he would be traveling to Alaska to campaign against Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski, who voted to condemn him, calling her “disloyal” and “very bad”.
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