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Graham’s sharp remarks about his primary opponents
As the podium was being prepared for Graham to launch his speech, he informed the organizers that he would prefer to stand on a stool, as it would help him look “huge” like Donald Trump. This sent the audience into a fit of giggles, and was a precursor for the speech that was to follow. Besides Trump, Graham also made references Ted Cruz and his political standing. Graham humorously said, “If you kill Ted Cruz on the floor of the Senate, and the trial was on the Senate, nobody could convict you,” indicating the lack of political friendships that Cruz suffers. Neither was Ben Carson spared, as Graham declared that Carson was a nice guy and had only “tried to kill his cousin.”
This comes as no real surprise, as Graham has expressed a fairly negative opinion about both Trump and Cruz. Recently, he told reporters that he believed nominating either Trump or Cruz would entail the same outcome for the Republican Party in November. He is of the opinion that both these politicians would spell “death” for the Party’s hopes of attaining success in November. He also said, “Whether it’s death by being shot or poisoning doesn’t really matter. I don’t think the outcome will be substantially different.”
Do these opinions have significance?
Do these strongly-worded opinions reflect the possibility of success or failure of presidential candidates? Or do they lack any real relevance? Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri aptly said, “I believe in this environment it doesn’t matter much what former senators or current senators say, that voters are going to make those decisions on their own and I think the candidate that gets nominated will be the best candidate.”
To know whether Senator Graham’s ideas about the Republican Party’s fate will actually ring true, we will have to wait and watch as the election results unfold. Until then, Graham’s speech at the Washington Press Club Foundation’s annual dinner can serve for a good laugh.
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