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- Sen. Lindsey Graham said it was “impossible” for the Republican Party to progress without Donald Trump being its leader.
- He said those within the party who criticized him would “wind up getting erased.”
- GOP lawmakers are battling over Trump’s future role within the party.
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Sen. Lindsey Graham said it was “impossible” for the Republican Party to progress without Donald Trump being its leader and said those within the party who criticized him would “wind up getting erased.”
“The most popular Republican in America is not Lindsey Graham, it’s not Liz Cheney, it’s Donald Trump,” Graham told Fox News on Monday.
-Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 11, 2021
“People on our side of the aisle believe that Trump policies worked, they’re disappointed that he lost. And to try and erase Donald Trump from the Republican Party is insane. And the people who try to erase him are going to wind up getting erased.”
“It’s impossible for this party to move forward without President Trump being its leader because the people who are conservative have chosen him as their leader,” Graham told Fox News on Monday.
“He was the most consequential president for national security since Ronald Reagan … The people have chosen him, not the pundits,” he said.
Graham’s comments come as GOP lawmakers continue to argue over the extent to which Trump should continue to play a formative role within the party. Some senior Republican figures including Sen. Graham have suggested that Trump and his politics are integral to the party.
He last week suggested the party “can’t grow” without the support of the former president.
Others including Rep. Liz Cheney, have led criticism of the former president since he was accused of inciting the Capitol riot on January 6.
Trump, who has suggested he would like to run again as the Republican presidential candidate in 2024, has sought to maintain a tight grip as the party’s de facto leader.
He continues to endorse candidates who pledge loyalty to him and advance his favored policies, and repeatedly attacks his Republican critics, including Cheney.
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