Sen. Lindsey Graham, known as the “Trump whisperer,” believes that former President Donald Trump, not Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, is poised to be America’s next president, regardless of what billionaire entrepreneur and investor Elon Musk says.
“Elon Musk, you know, basically declared Trump dead politically. And, you know, I like Elon fine, but let me just say this: DeSantis has been a great governor, but this is Trump’s party. And Elon Musk will not pick the nominee for the Republican Party in 2024 — Republicans will do that,” Graham said.
“And I like Trump’s chances in South Carolina. Trump would win going away if he ran again. … I like Ron DeSantis, but I know what I’m getting with Trump: the good, and the bad, and everything in-between. Trump sounds pretty good to me right now.”
Graham made the remarks late Wednesday on Fox News’ “Jesse Watters Primetime.”
The remarks came roughly half a month after Musk admitted that he’s “leaning” toward DeSantis in the 2024 race.
Not shy … Elon Musk names his early 2024 presidential favorite by name
Right after Republican Mayra Flores’ upset victory during a special election in South Texas last month, Musk announced on Twitter that he’d voted for her and that it’d been the “first time I ever voted Republican.”
In response, Twitter users asked who he was leaning toward for the 2024 presidential election. Musk replied by pointing straight to DeSantis.
A couple of weeks later, Trump suddenly ripped Musk during a rally in Alaska, calling him a “bullsh*t artist” ostensibly because of Musk claiming to have voted Republican for the first time ever and because of Musk pulling out of his deal with Twitter.
“Another one of our highest priorities under a Republican Congress will be to stop left-wing censorship and to restore free speech in America. And go out, by the way, while I’m here and sign up now for Truth Social. It’s hot as a pistol, and you see that I called that one, right? Elon. Elon! Elon is not going to buy Twitter. Where did you hear that before? From me,” the former president said.
“He’s got himself a mess. You know, he said the other day, ‘I’ve never voted for a Republican.’ I said I didn’t know that. He told me he voted for me. So he’s another bullshit artist, but he’s not going to be buying it. Although he might later. Who the hell knows what’s going to happen? He’s got a pretty rotten contract. I looked at his contract, not a good contract. Sign up for Truth. We love Truth.”
Trump slams ‘bullsh*t artist’ Elon Musk after Twitter pullout; drops F-bomb at AK rally with Sarah Palin https://t.co/r3jtLrDlvU pic.twitter.com/VFkTNOSwZm
— Conservative News (@BIZPACReview) July 10, 2022
Musk responded a few days later by writing on Twitter that “it’s time for Trump to hang up his hat & sail into the sunset.”
It appears this specific tweet was what Graham was responding to Wednesday.
Continuing his remarks on Fox News, the senator then compared Trump’s successful presidency to current President Joe Biden’s circus show of a presidency.
“Compare Biden to Trump when it comes to the Mideast. You know, Biden’s begging the Iranians to get back in a deal that’s terrible for the Israelis and the Arabs. Biden is going to go to East Jerusalem to undercut the Trump policy of making Jerusalem the undivided capital of Israel,” he said.
“I’ve never seen a president tour the Mideast in a more weakened condition than President Biden, and I say that with sadness. Trump looks pretty damn good to me when you look at the issues we’re facing as a nation and as a world.”
Biden, on the other hand, looks horrible, so much so that even members of his own party are purposefully distancing themselves from him.
“The Democrat Party in large numbers wants to move on from Biden. The Republican Party substantially supports President Trump. So everybody talks about the Trump effect in 2022: If you’re a Democrat and somebody said to you running in 2022, Biden is here to help, you’d jump out the window. No one wants him in their district,” Graham correctly noted.
“You have candidates running as Democrats who just this past week in Ohio, the Senate and the Governor candidate refused to even show up or be seen when President Biden came to their state people are distancing themselves as Democrats from this administration.” @SenJohnBarrasso
— Fox News Sunday (@FoxNewsSunday) July 10, 2022
The same can’t be said of Trump.
“I talked to the president a couple of days ago. He’s really sort of heartbroken about what’s going on with the country. He’s very much invested in making sure we win the House and the Senate in 2022. And all I can say to the president — and he watches your show pretty routinely — if you’ll talk about what you did as president and compare it to what Biden is doing now, I think people are going to appreciate you now more than ever,” Graham noted.
“And Ron DeSantis is a great guy. He’s been a great governor. But it was Donald Trump who destroyed ISIS, who killed Soleimani, who secured the border. Nobody else. And he did it once — he can do it again. So I think he’d be very actively involved in the 2022 cycle, and I think that’d be a benefit to Republicans.”
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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