Trump has a 'dark side' and could 'DESTROY' the GOP – or make it bigger, says Lindsey Graham

DONALD Trump has a "dark side" and could "destroy" the GOP – or make it bigger – Senator Lindsey Graham has said.

Graham said he is trying to maintain his relationship with the former president and still considers him a friend – despite controversy caused by the Capitol riots on January 6.



The senator said there is "some magic" in Trump despite his "dark side" and that he has the potential to make the Republican Party "bigger, strong or diverse" – but also destroy it.

Graham told Axios on HBO that Trump succeeded in winning the presidency where other Republican candidates, such as Mitt Romney and John McCain, failed.

The senator said: "Mitt Romney didn't do it. John McCain didn't do it. There's something about Trump. There's a dark side and there's some magic there.

"What I'm trying to do is just harness the magic.

He added: "He could make the Republican Party something that nobody else I know could make it.

"He can make it bigger, he can make it stronger, he can make it more diverse. And he also could destroy it."

'HARNESS THE MAGIC'

Following the January 6 riot, Graham criticized Trump for fuelling the attack and said "enough is enough".

But now, he said he is trying to keep a relationship with the former president as they were friends before the riot – which he called "a dark day in American history".

Graham said: "Donald Trump was my friend before the riot.

"And I'm trying to keep a relationship with him after the riot. I still consider him a friend.

"What happened was a dark day in American history, and we're going to move forward.

"I want us to continue the policies that I think will make America strong. I believe the best way for the Republican Party to do that is with Trump, not without Trump."


TV host Joe Scarborough has criticized Graham for his comments about Trump, saying: "Harness the magic? He led an insurrection to overturn a constitutional process that guaranteed the peaceful transition of power.

"Harness the magic? Calling for violence. Not just then, but looking at his television set gleefully while Kevin McCarthy and others were screaming at him, begging him to call off his terrorists. That’s actually not magic. That’s sedition."

It comes as Donald Trump was hit with a lawsuit accusing him of inciting the Capitol riots by a Democrat rep who hopes it will "put him out of business."

The lawsuit – which accuses Trump of violating civil rights and inciting the January 6 riot – was filed by the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee Bennie Thompson, the first suit filed by a congressman.

Attorneys for Thompson and the NAACP formally served the lawsuit to the former president at his Mar-a-Lago club, reported The Daily Beast.

Thompson said: "Donald Trump has to go away. If he doesn't, we will put him out of business," CBS News reported last month.

According to the NAACP, other members of Congress – including Democrats Representatives Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey and Hank Johnson of Georgia – also joined the litigation.

The case also names the Republican former president’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani as a co-defendant.

The suit cites incendiary comments that Trump and Giuliani made in the weeks leading up to the riot and on the day of it that lawyers say were designed to mobilize supporters to work to overturn the election results and to prevent the Senate’s certification process.


Source: Read Full Article

Previous post Best Haven holiday parks for babies and toddlers, including Wales, Norfolk & Yorkshire from £84 per stay
Next post Prince Harry & Meghan Markle’s Oprah Interview Body Language Was So Unified