Republican Senator Lindsey Graham continued on Monday to discourage Donald Trump’s concession after he made similar remarks on Sunday when he said on Fox News: “Do not give in, Mr. President. Fight hard.”
But he also said early Monday morning in a Fox News radio interview that Trump would launch another campaign in 2024 if the ongoing legal proceedings proved unsuccessful in exposing election fraud. In an interview with radio host Brian Kilmeade, Graham said Trump should “consider running again in the next election cycle,” adding that he spoke directly to the president on Sunday.
“Grover Cleveland came back,” Graham said, referring to the 19th century politician’s unconventional return to the White House after a four-year hiatus during the presidency of Benjamin Harris. Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president and the only one in US history to serve two nonconsecutive terms.
Graham further suggested that Trump should “think” about doing the same if the current attempts of his campaign to invalidate votes “fall short of the desired outcome.
“I would encourage President Trump if, after all this, he falls short of the desired outcome… We simply can’t quite get there, not letting this movement die, considering a re-run, creating an organization and platforms for the next four years,” Graham said. “To keep this movement alive and expand republican representation in minority communities.
During Sunday’s Fox News interview, Graham specifically urged Trump not to allow the election and called the results “contested” in his interview with host Maria Bartiromo.
The Senator of South Carolina, a vocal Trump supporter who defended his seat in Congress during last week’s general election, will resume office in Washington for a fourth term. Graham was first elected to the U.S. Senate almost two decades ago, in 2002. A former Trump critic, he has become one of the President’s closest allies in the Senate in recent years.
On Saturday, the Associated Press and various other news agencies predicted that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris would win the election. Graham has publicly supported the Republican incumbent’s unsubstantiated allegations of improper election procedures and electoral fraud.
The Congressman openly praised Biden in an emotional 2015 interview, saying, “The bottom line is that if you can’t admire Joe Biden as a person, you have a problem. But Graham declined to congratulate his former Senate colleague after the AP announced its projection.
Washington Newsday asked the Trump and Graham campaign for further comments, but did not receive replies in time for publication.
