Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told Fox News on Feb. 16 that unless the Republican Party has the backing of former President Donald Trump, the GOP doesn’t have a “snowball’s chance in hell” of taking back the Senate majority in the 2022 midterm election.
“I’m more worried about 2022 than I’ve ever been. I don’t want to eat our own,” Graham said, referring to the feud between Trump and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who, while he voted to acquit Trump at his impeachment trial, later rebuked him as “morally responsible” for the Jan. 6 unrest at the Capitol.
Graham argued on Fox News’ “Hannity” that McConnell had been “indispensable” to Trump during his time in office and urged the two to tone things down and work together.
“I know Trump can be a handful, but he is the most dominant figure in the Republican Party,“ Graham said. ”We don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of taking back the majority without Donald Trump.
“If Mitch McConnell doesn’t understand that, he’s missing a lot.
“We need to knock this off. Kevin McCarthy is the leader of the House Republicans. He has taken a different approach to President Trump. I would advise Sen. McConnell to do that.”
Graham’s remarks highlight the schism in the GOP between pro-Trump elected officials and the wing led by the likes of McConnell and House leadership member Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), who voted to impeach Trump last month.
Several Republican senators who voted to convict Trump over the weekend were subsequently censured by their respective state GOPs. Cheney, meanwhile, will face a Republican primary challenger for her seat in 2022.
“I will back primary rivals who espouse Making America Great Again and our policy of America First,” Trump wrote in his Feb. 16 statement. “We want brilliant, strong, thoughtful, and compassionate leadership.”
McConnell, after voting to acquit Trump on the charge of “incitement of insurrection” in the impeachment trial, issued a scathing rebuke, in which he said Trump was “practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day” and accused the former president of a “disgraceful dereliction of duty.”
Trump and his lawyers denied that he incited the violence on Jan. 6, with his attorneys calling the “incitement of insurrection” charge a “monstrous lie” that didn’t reflect the reality of what happened when the Capitol was breached.
On Feb. 13, the Senate acquitted Trump with a 57–43 vote, 10 votes shy of the 67 needed for a “guilty” verdict.
Trump also teased a political comeback, saying that “our historic, patriotic, and beautiful movement to Make America Great Again has only just begun. In the months ahead I have much to share with you, and I look forward to continuing our incredible journey together to achieve American greatness for all of our people.”
Trump has largely remained out of sight since leaving office on Jan. 20, releasing few statements and mostly communicating through intermediaries.
Former Trump campaign strategist Jason Miller said last month that Trump will become active in politics again to “make sure” Republicans win back the majority in 2022.