Even after exiting the 2016 Republican presidential field, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham can’t escape the wrath of Donald Trump.
During a town hall Wednesday in Graham’s home state, the brash billionaire tore into Graham, who is continued to denounce Trump’s policies and rhetoric while stumping for his opponent, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. Graham endorsed Bush in mid-January, about a month after he ended his own White House bid.
“This guy is one of the dumbest human beings I’ve ever seen,” Trump told the audience in Bluffton, S.C. “I think he’s disgraced.”
Trump then railed against Graham’s foreign policy, claiming the South Carolina senator lacks military expertise.
“The guy is a nut job and honestly, I don’t want his endorsement,” he said, ignoring Graham’s decision to back Bush in the primary. “I don’t want anything to do with him.”
“And he’s thinking, ‘Oh I know so much about the military,'” Trump added. “I could push him over with a little thimble. He knows nothing.”
The problem with Trump’s latest insult is that Graham, who retired from the Air Force this summer after a 33-year career, has more military experience on paper than any other 2016 presidential hopefuls, Trump included. The senior senator is chairman of a subcommittee within the Senate Armed Services Committee, has previously sat on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee and has made dozens of trips to the Middle East throughout his life.
“My background, judgment and experience of foreign policy is second to none. But part of it is also my disposition,” Graham told voters in October, two months before he exited the Republican race.
Trump also has gone after one of Graham’s closest friends and another veteran in the Senate, Arizona Sen. John McCain. The outspoken businessman stirred controversy last summer after he questioned McCain’s military record and blasted the former POW’s war-hero status.
