South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham reportedly wants Republicans to vote for Donald Trump, despite his past criticism of the GOP’s presumptive nominee.
Graham and Trump famously squared off on the presidential campaign trail when Trump read aloud Graham’s phone number onstage at an event.
The senator has subsequently called Trump a ‘race-baiting, xenophobic‘ bigot, and suggested the Republican Party has gone “bats—t crazy.”
But he urged donors at a private fundraiser to support Trump, according to CNN, and emphasized the need to keep Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton out of the White House.
Graham’s recent remarks suggested he had warmed to Trump. He previously said he spoke on the phone with Trump about foreign policy and described it as a “cordial” and “pleasant” conversation.
Kevin Bishop, a spokesman for Graham, pushed back against the suggestion that Graham had changed his mind.
“The story is thinly sourced,” Bishop tweeted about CNN’s report. “Again, there has been no change in Sen. Graham’s position.”
Whether Graham will make a formal endorsement remains to be seen, but his actions may signal that he thinks Trump is the only serious alternative to Clinton.
