Former Republican presidential candidate Sen. Lindsey Graham said he would “enthusiastically” support Mike Pence over Donald Trump in a hypothetical primary election.
“I would vote for Mike Pence,” the South Carolina senator said about Trump’s running mate on CNN Thursday. “I would be enthusiastically supporting Mike Pence for president of the United States if he were the nominee of the party.” Graham ran for president during the Republican primary this election cycle but stepped out of the race late last year. The conservative has famously refused to endorse or even vote for his party’s nominee.
Graham said he regrets being unable to “embrace” the candidate he predicts will win his home state because he “can’t go” the direction he believes Trump is taking the Republican Party.
“South Carolina will go for Trump. There’s no doubt about that,” Graham said. “There’s a million reasons why I can’t vote for Hillary Clinton, but that doesn’t hurt me at all. The fact that I can’t go where Donald Trump takes the party and I think the country is just something I regret and I am where I am on this.”
The soft-spoken senator said he hopes the famously brash billionaire will “listen to Mike Pence because Mike has really good judgment” if the Republican ticket wins the White House.
Graham said if Trump “can get his act together” and focus on making the case against Clinton like the Indiana governor has done, the Republican ticket has a shot of winning the presidential election. Trump is widely considered to have lost the first debate, while Pence’s performance at this week’s vice presidential debate has been widely admired.
“The world is not in a good spot. If he could explain to the country that I will take it in a new direction, sort of like Mike Pence did, he could actually win this thing.”
