Richard Burr’s vote to condemn Donald Trump did not overthrow the former president, but it may have made Lara Trump “almost certain” to be nominated for the U.S. Senate, Trump ally Lindsey Graham said on Sunday.
“I would certainly be after her because she represents the future of the Republican party,” said the South Carolina senator of the former president’s daughter-in-law, adding that the future should be “Trump-plus”.
Burr, former chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, will retire as a senator from North Carolina at the end of his current term.
On Saturday, he and six other Republicans voted to condemn Trump on charges of insurrection linked to the attack on the United States Capitol – most of the votes already cast to convict a president by senators from his own party.
Burr’s state Republican party condemned what it called its “shocking and disappointing” vote.
Lara Trump is married to Eric Trump, the second son of the former president. She would be interested in running for the Senate in her home state.
“I think the biggest winner in this whole impeachment process is Lara Trump,” Graham told Fox News on Sunday. “My dear friend Richard Burr, whom I like and have been friends with for a long time, has just named Lara Trump as a certain nominee for the Senate seat in North Carolina to replace him if she runs.
“Now I would certainly be after her because she represents the future of the Republican Party.”
In 2016, Graham predicted that Trump would “destroy” the GOP if he were named president. As soon as Trump gained power, the senator changed to become one of his biggest drivers.
On Sunday, in an interview in which he occasionally spoke directly to the former president, he said his party should be “Trump-plus” because “the most powerful force in the Republican Party is President Trump”.
“And in the end, I’ve been involved in politics for over 25 years,” said Graham. “The president is a handful and what happened [at the Capitol] on January 6 it was terrible for the country. But he is not the only culprit. Democrats stood on the sidelines and watched the country burn down for a year and a half without saying a word, and most Republicans are tired of hypocrisy. ”
On Saturday, Graham first voted against calling witnesses at the impeachment trial, then changed to support him. After an agreement was made to avoid this measure, he voted for absolution.
Other members of the Trump family have been associated with candidacies for public office. For example, Florida Senator Marco Rubio must face a primary challenge from Ivanka Trump, the eldest daughter of the former president.
Lara Trump, 38, is a former personal trainer and TV producer who has become one of the campaign’s main replacements. Among other controversies, she claimed that Joe Biden was suffering from “cognitive decline” and made fun of his stuttering. She received widespread rebuke.
“Those words come without hesitation,” Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, the American airline pilot and hero who also stuttered as a child, wrote in the New York Times.
“Stop. Grow up. Show some decency. People who may not have a place in public life.”