Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on Sunday suggested Republicans back Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who Graham has harshly attacked, to stop Donald Trump from winning the Republican nomination.
“Here’s my message to the Republican party and the conservative movement,” Graham said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “I’d rather risk losing without Donald Trump than try to win with him, because it will do more damage over time.”
Graham, a national security hawk who failed to get traction in his own presidential bid, said that despite his clashes with Cruz, who he faults for pushing Republicans into shutting down the government in 2013, he can settle for Cruz as the party’s nominee.
“Ted is a conservative,” said Graham, who now backs Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., after previously endorsing former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. “He’s more ideological than I am, but he is a Republican conservative and Donald Trump is not,” Graham said. “If I had to support Ted Cruz over Donald Trump, I would because I think he is a Republican conservative, and he might could beat Hillary Clinton.”
Graham said Republicans would have “some hope with Ted, no hope with The Donald.”
“We’re in a demographic death spiral,” Graham said. “What did we learn in 2012? Hispanics don’t like our message on immigration of self-deportation. I don’t think they’re going to like forced-deportation better. At the end of the day, Donald Trump has taken every problem we’ve had with Hispanics and young women and made them worse.”
“If Donald Trump’s the nominee, the Republican party will get killed, will get creamed, we’ll lose, we’ll deserve it,” Graham said. “But call me after the convention.”
