Sen. Lindsey Graham warns GOP Leader Mitch McConnell to bury hatchet with Trump — or else
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has a message to Republicans: Get along with “the Donald” or get out.
The veteran South Carolina lawmaker warned Republican leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) that he must “effectively work” with former President Trump if he hopes to keep his post.
“If you want to be a Republican leader in the House or the Senate, you have to have a working relationship with President Donald Trump,” Graham said late Wednesday on Fox News.
Graham: If you want to be a Republican leader in the House or the Senate, you have to have a working relationship with Trump. Can Senator McConnell effectively work with the Donald Trump. I’m not going to vote for anybody that can’t have a working relationship with Trump pic.twitter.com/boOjekgyTT
— Acyn (@Acyn) January 13, 2022
Calling McConnell a friend, Graham insisted he won’t vote for him to be Republican Senate leader unless he can mend fences with his arch-nemesis Trump.
The Senate Minority Leader has not spoken with the former president since the infamous Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, which was carried out by violent extremist supporters of Trump.
The twice-impeached president derides McConnell as the “old crow” and blames him for not effectively standing up to President Biden on a host of issues.
“Can Sen. McConnell effectively work with the leader of the Republican Party, Donald Trump?” he mused. “I’m not going to vote for anybody that can’t have a working relationship with President Trump.”
“If you can’t do that, you will fail,” Graham added.
Graham left little doubt that he is seeking to put himself squarely in Trump’s camp as the former president seeks to seize an even firmer grip on the GOP ahead of the coming midterm elections.
“He’s the most consequential Republican since Ronald Reagan,” Graham said of Trump. “It’s his nomination if he wants it, and I think he’ll get reelected in 2024.”
