South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said he was yelling and screaming during Tuesday nights presidential debate, calling it a missed opportunity.
Graham, an opponent-turned-ally of former President Donald Trump, was the first Republican quoted in the spin room saying that the ex-presidents performance wasnt top-notch.
He told the Bulwark that Trump was an unprepared disaster and aides tasked with preparing him for the showdown with Vice President Kamala Harris should be fired, though later conceded in an interview with Politico its not the debate team.
The Republican lawmaker had more concrete advice for what Trump should have done when talking to Politico too.
She said, "We inherited a mess," Graham said. I was yelling and screaming, "No you didnt - you inherited low gas prices, a secure border, a vaccine for COVID, you inherited the biggest Mideast change of my lifetime, the Abraham Accords, and now everything is to s***.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (center), an opponent-turned-ally of former President Donald Trump, was the first Republican quoted in the spin room Tuesday night saying that the ex-presidents performance wasnt top-notch
Graham said he had been yelling and screaming at the TV during Tuesday nights debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, telling Politico it was a missed opportunity
Tuesday nights contentious debate in Philadelphia kicked off with a discussion of the economy, with Trump unable to land attacks on Harris and concretely link her to the countrys inflation woes.
That, in part, is because the vice president talked early on about some of the big economic challenges Trump passed onto the Biden administration in January 2021, about a year into the pandemic.
Lets talk about what Donald Trump left us, the VP said. Donald Trump left us the worst unemployment since the Great Depression. Donald Trump left us the worst public health epidemic in a century. Donald Trump left us the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War.
And what we have done is clean up Donald Trumps mess, she said.
After that, Harris segued to warning the American public about the contents of Project 2025, with Trump choosing to respond to that attack instead of defending his administrations economic record.
I have nothing to do, as you know and as she knows better than anyone, I have nothing to do with Project 2025. Thats out there. I havent read it. I dont want to read it, purposely. Im not going to read it, Trump said.
He then said he did a phenomenal job with the pandemic.
Graham had suggested that Trump tout his Operation Warp Speed - the public-private partnership implemented by his administration to quickly develop a vaccine amid the pandemic.
But Trump has leaned into the political rights vaccine skepticism.
And he has since joined forces with prominent anti-vaxxer, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose running mate stipulated that they shouldnt endorse Trump unti he apologizes for the COVID vaccine.
On Wednesday, Republicans found themselves divided over whether Trump should agree to a rematch.
If there is one, Graham advised that Trump better tighten up.
He said Trump needed to outline to the American people, what I did, what you got and where were at.