All eyes were on America on November 3, 2020, as people around the world held
their breath to see how the election would turn out. With a record number of voters,
both in-person and absentee, no one was quite sure how things would end. As we know now,
Joe Biden beat Donald Trump to become the next President of the United States.
While the presidential race was definitely the main event, there were many other important
races happening around the country. One of the most closely watched senatorial races
was in South Carolina, where longtime Republican Senator Lindsey Graham faced off against newbie
Democrat Jaime Harrison. So eager were the masses to cast out the controversial senator
that Harrison reportedly raised more than $57 million in one round of fundraising,
more than any senatorial candidate in history.
It was not to be, though. At the end of election night, Graham secured his senate seat for yet
another term. This hit liberals and Democrats around the country
particularly hard, as Graham has been widely criticized by his political opposites.
Chief among their complaints is Graham's close relationship with President Trump.
"Trump and I, we've had a hell of a journey."
Once an outspoken critic of the president, Graham is now one of Trump's closest allies. The
relationship between Senator Lindsey Graham and President Donald Trump is a bit like Trump's 2016
win: totally unexpected yet somehow inevitable. For the bulk of Graham's long political career,
he was more moderate than far-right. Before Trump's win, Graham only knew him as an enemy,
as they both tried for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination. On the campaign trail, Graham called
the future president a "jackass," and Trump gave out Graham's personal phone number on national TV.
These days, though, you're more likely to find Graham meeting the president
for tee time than bashing him on CNN. The New York Times reported in 2019,
"Graham's rush to Trump's side is particularly baffling because not long ago,
he was best known for his bipartisan deal-making on issues like climate change and immigration."
The swift pivot from centrist to die-hard Trumpian is no doubt related to Graham's sharp drop in
popularity in recent years, with unhappy voters often likening Graham to a political groupie.
The lapdog image might not be entirely accurate, though. According to Bloomberg,
Graham's real role is not to be a simpering yes-man to the president, but rather to be a
dedicated friend who's able to truly hold Trump accountable and call him out when he's wrong.
From odd nicknames to personal jibes, Donald Trump has a talent for viciously insulting
fellow republicans, yet somehow maintaining their support. Who could forget him crudely mocking
Ted Cruz's wife's appearance, only to have the Texan senator voice his support for Trump's
claims of a rigged 2020 election? Or Chris Christie giving Trump's presidency an A-grade,
despite a slew of mean comments from both sides? Lindsey Graham is no exception to the
former president's fickle affections, with Trump publicly putting him on blast again in September.
"Donald Trump was my friend."
Trump's latest beef with Graham seems to stem from allegations made in Bob Woodward and Robert
Costa's "Peril," in which they reported that the South Carolina senator doubted Trump's
claims of election fraud. In a statement issued through Trump's Save America PAC,
he claimed that Graham should be "ashamed" of himself, claiming that his one-time ally
didn't do enough to combat what he deemed the "Crime of the Century."
As with any on-off relationship, there is always one party that's more willing to
forgive and forget. In the saga of Donald Trump and Lindsey Graham, it seems to be the latter.
According to The Detroit News, Graham spoke positively about the former president while
addressing an audience at the Michigan Republican Party's leadership conference on September 25th,
2021, just a few days after Trump publicly lambasted him.
"No I think it was very accurate, and if you look at it, it was very, very accurate."
Pointedly making no mention of Trump's harsh comments, the senator
seemed keen to get a positive message across to the former president, stating,
"I don't think Trump is listening. He might be."
Graham continued his outward show of support by also stating,
"I hope President Trump runs again."
This comment was reportedly met with enthusiastic applause from the crowd.
Although admitting that his political frenemy could be a bit of a "handful," Graham was
quick to sing Trump's praises, crediting him with restoring order to the southern border,
making necessary tax cuts, and even supporting the development of the
COVID-19 vaccine. Whether Trump will respond to Graham's graciousness remains to be seen.
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