Senator Lindsey Graham, who has been one of the most vocal anti-Trump Republicans, appears to be knuckling under to the presumptive nominee. He reportedly asked donors to unite behind Donald Trump’s campaign.
This is the same Lindsey Graham who called Trump “the world’s biggest jackass” and a “race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot;” the same Lindsey Graham who said Trump’s antics were detracting from substantive issues such as the Iran deal; the same Lindsey Graham who labeled Trump a conman and declared that he lacked the temperament and judgment to be president.
In July, Trump tweeted out Graham’s private cellphone number. He deployed his usual epithets against Graham, calling him a “lightweight” and an “idiot,” but also got more specific: “He doesn’t seem like a very bright guy. He actually probably seems to me not as bright as Rick Perry. I think Rick Perry probably is smarter than Lindsey Graham.”
So it’s disheartening that after calling out Trump and standing firm against his litany of insults, Graham is urging donors to back him. Graham maintains that he has no plans to formally endorse Trump. But if even he is effectively supporting Trump, it’s hard to have confidence in Republican politicians’ denunciations of the presumptive nominee, no matter how sincere they seem.