Lindsey Graham says Manhattan DA has ‘done more’ to get Trump re-elected than ‘a single person in America’, but tells DailyMail.com calling for protests is not the ‘right approach’
- Senator Lindsey Graham predicted on Saturday that an impeachment against Trump would give the ex-president a political boost
- “The New York prosecutor did more to get Donald Trump elected president than any person in America,” Graham said
- But Graham told DailyMail.com at a South Carolina presidential forum that he didn’t think Trump’s calls for “PROTEST” were the “right thing to do.”
Senator Lindsey Graham predicted Saturday that if former President Donald Trump is indicted next week by Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg, it will only benefit the ex-president’s 2024 campaign.
“The New York Attorney General has done more to get Donald Trump elected president than any person in America,” Graham said at the Palmetto Family Council Vision ’24 presidential forum.
Earlier Saturday, Trump went to Truth Social and said he expected to be arrested Tuesday — with charges related to hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election.
Trump then called for ‘PROTEST, PROTEST, PROTEST!!!”, echoing calls he made after falsely telling his supporters that the 2020 election had been stolen from him, resulting in the assassination attempt on the Capitol on January 6.
“I don’t think that’s the right approach,” Graham told DailyMail.com after his performance in North Charleston. “I think he should fight this in court. He’s going to win. This is an attempted overrun by the Attorney General of Manhattan.”
Senator Lindsey Graham predicted on Saturday that if former President Donald Trump is indicted next week by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, it will only help his presidential campaign
“The New York State Attorney’s Office has done more to get Donald Trump elected president than any person in America,” Graham (right) said Saturday at the Palmetto Family Council Vision ’24 presidential forum
“I think it’s going to help him politically,” the South Carolina Republican repeated.
When asked if Trump’s calls for rallies could lead to political violence similar to January 6, Graham addressed the Black Lives Matter protests that followed the May 2020 death of George Floyd.
“People protest after George Floyd, if they think something is wrong, okay, you know? People take to the streets when they feel they have been wronged,” Graham said. “What I would advise the president is to focus on his legal situation, fight back in court, and let everyone in America know they’re doing this because they’re politically afraid of him.”
While Graham ran against Trump for the GOP nomination in 2016, he acted as an unofficial surrogate for the ex-president at the Palmetto Family Council Vision ’24 event on Saturday.
Graham is one of five Senate Republicans who have already endorsed Trump’s 2024 presidential bid.
Held at the Charleston Area Convention Center in North Charleston, the forum attracted presidential candidates Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy, and several others flirting with a bid, including South Carolina Senator Tim Scott and former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson.
According to organizers, both Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis were invited to attend but skipped.
South Carolina holds the South’s first presidential primaries.
Graham was asked about the impending impeachment of Trump as soon as he took the stage Saturday afternoon and his thoughts on how the ex-president would react.
“Oh, I think he’ll be very quiet,” Graham said, laughing.