Despite frequently urging the previous president Mr. Trump to run for President again, GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham dubbed President Biden the “best person” to lead and reconcile the country during last year’s Capitol riot, according to newly leaked recordings.
“We’ll actually come out of this stronger. Moments like this reset,” Graham (R-SC) stated in the CNN recording. “People will calm down. People will say, ‘I don’t want to be associated with that.’”
“This is a group within a group,” he said. “What this does, there will be a rallying effect for a while [where] the country says, ‘We’re better than this.’”
Listen to the Lindsey Graham leaked audio here.
Graham is asked if the freshly elected Biden might help with the rallying effect in the recording, which was obtained by New York Times writers Jonathan Martin & Alex Burns, as reported.
“Totally, he’ll be maybe the best person to have, right?” Graham responded. “I mean, how mad can you get at Joe Biden?”
Martin, who co-wrote the new book “This Will Not Pass” alongside Burns, informed CNN Tuesday night that he spoke with Graham in a safe chamber at the Capitol as the 45th president’s supporters stormed the building.
Later that day, in an emotional statement on the Senate floor, Graham officially separated himself from Trump.
“Trump and I, we had a hell of a journey,” he added. “I hate it being this way. Oh my God, I hate it. But today, all I can say is count me out. Enough is enough. I tried to be helpful.”
Graham gradually swung back to full-throated backing for Trump in the months following the incident.
The senator claimed in May 2021 that the Republican Party could not “go on” without the previous president.
“I would just say to my Republican colleagues, can we move forward without President Trump? The answer is no,” he replied in a Fox News appearance with “Hannity.”
Graham slammed Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) for criticizing the former president at the time when she was facing removal from her post as chair of the House GOP Conference. Rep. Elise Stefanik eventually took over for Cheney (R-NY).
“I’ve always liked Liz Cheney, but she’s made a determination that the Republican Party can’t grow with President Trump. I’ve determined we can’t grow without him,” Graham remarked. “If you don’t get that, you’re making the biggest mistake in the history of the Republican Party.”
The South Carolinian also campaigned for a “Draft Trump” campaign to kick-start a possible presidential run in 2024.
Graham told Fox News, “I miss Donald Trump.” “Hannity.”
“I hope he’s considering running. Let’s start a ‘Draft Trump’ movement. He’s the only guy I think can go to the American people and say, ‘Let me finish what I started. What I did worked.’”
Only a few months later, Graham urged Trump to run again.
“I hope President Trump runs again,” the senator stated in September during a Republican Party of Michigan leadership meeting.
