Sen. Lindsey Graham participates in a panel discussion on economics during the America First Agenda Summit on July 26, 2022 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Washington, DC.
Drew Angerer | News from Getty Images | Getty Images
US Senator Lindsey Graham believes former President Donald Trump has “a pretty good chance” of winning the 2024 US presidential election in what he says could be one of the “greatest political comebacks in American history”.
Speaking to CNBC on Saturday, Graham — a South Carolina Republican and close Trump ally — said he had told the former president he had “no chance” of winning the 2020 election, but added that 2024 be within his reach.
“I literally tell you what I tell him,” CNBC’s Graham Steve Sedgwick told the Ambrosetti Forum in Italy.
“If you lose again, the story of who you are and what you’ve done changes dramatically,” he said. “When you come back, it will be one of the greatest political comebacks in American history. And if you have four years left, you can achieve great things.”
The potential to do “big things”.
Graham, who is currently facing witness appeals in a criminal investigation related to Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, said Trump can now position himself as the president of hope and action as the political and economic climate changes under President Joe Biden blacked out .
Here’s what Trump might say, Graham said.
“Okay, you lived through four years of it. You get a chance to start fresh,” he said.
“Do you remember me? I may not be your thing, but when I was president our border was safe, we had the lowest illegal crossings in 40 years. I made it,” he continued.
“When I was president, I opposed China and they listened. When I was President, we had the strongest military since Ronald Regan. When I was president, I destroyed the caliphate. When I was president, we had conservative judges, not liberal judges. He has a story to tell,” Graham said.
Ultimately, however, Graham acknowledged that it may take more than just political commitments for Trump to regain favor with American voters.
“His problem is personal,” he said. “His policies have stood the test of time. But has he exhausted the American people in terms of his personality? … The time will tell.”
The Trump investigation continues
Graham’s comments come amid Trump investigations into possible violations of the law related to espionage and obstruction of justice, particularly regarding his handling of classified White House records he brought to his residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida.
The senator criticized the FBI’s investigation and accused the agency of double standards in its treatment of Trump towards Hillary Clinton, who was the subject of a separate investigation into her use of a private email server as secretary of state. Trump’s critics argue that the two cases are not comparable.
Graham reiterated on Saturday that there would be “riots in the streets” if Trump were prosecuted, but separately condemned the violence seen during the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol.
Last Thursday, a federal judge denied Graham’s recent attempt to challenge a subpoena for his testimony before a special Georgia grand jury investigating possible criminal interference by Trump and his allies in the 2020 election.
However, the judge limited the scope of the subpoena by ordering that Graham not be questioned about phone calls he made with Georgia Foreign Minister Brad Raffensperger and his associates in the weeks following the November 2020 Trump-Biden election.
It follows continued offers by Graham to avoid testifying on the grounds that his position as legislature grants him immunity under the US Constitution’s “speech or debate” clause.
Comments are closed.