Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who demonstrated various ways to destroy a cell phone after his number was read aloud by Donald Trump at a campaign rally Tuesday, likened Mr. Trump to a car crash on Thursday.
“I think he’s [sort of] a political car wreck where people slow down and watch,” Mr. Graham, one of Mr. Trump’s rivals for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination, said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “When he crossed the line with John McCain and other veterans, that was the beginning of the end.”
“Let’s just try to be fair here. He’s one of the great showmen of our time,” Mr. Graham said in a separate appearance on “Fox and Friends.” “Look at all these companies that have hired him to sell their products. Some of the biggest-name companies in the world want to be associated with Donald Trump. Then there’s the presidential candidate. They’re all firing him for a reason — he’s become very toxic.”
At the South Carolina rally, Mr. Trump had called Mr. Graham a lightweight who wouldn’t be able to find work in the private sector, comments he made after Mr. Graham had called him a “jackass.” He also told a story of how Mr. Graham wanted him to speak favorably of him several years ago on “Fox and Friends.”
Mr. Graham said he was “a little shocked at first” about his number being given out, “but I said what the heck — let’s just go with it.”
Asked what he would say to Mr. Trump if he called him on his new phone, Mr. Graham said: “Please get me on Fox News.”
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“All I can say is sometimes I think The Donald is full of b.s.,” he said. “When he said that I called him begging him for a reference to get on ’Fox and Friends,’ I know that’s b.s. Glad to be on with you.”
Mr. Graham said stunt phones were used in the IJReview video and that the original phone is still “safe and secure.”
“You know how hard it is to find a dozen flip phones? But we found ’em,” he said.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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