Donald Trump said Friday he’s better off without Sen. Lindsey Graham’s support, firing back after the South Carolina senator said earlier in the day he will not vote for Mr. Trump, the GOP’s presumptive presidential nominee.
Mr. Graham ran as one of the field of 17 major GOP presidential hopefuls but dropped out after failing to gain any traction, and Mr. Trump said it was an embarrassing showing that undercuts Mr. Graham’s credibility.
“While I will unify the party, Lindsey Graham has shown himself to be beyond rehabilitation,” Mr. Trump said. “And like the voters who rejected him, so will I!”
The stern response suggests Mr. Trump is getting fed up with the very public and rather nasty debate going on among GOP officials and conservative pundits in Washington as to whether they can support their likely nominee.
On Thursday, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan said he’s not yet ready to back Mr. Trump, saying the candidate has to do more to prove he’s conservative before Mr. Ryan will get behind him.
Mr. Trump retorted that he’s not sure he can support Mr. Ryan’s agenda.
Mr. Ryan was running mate to 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney, who has said he won’t support Mr. Trump this year.
Also refusing to go along is former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, whom Mr. Trump trounced in the primaries.
But most of the other 2016 hopefuls are getting on board, with former Texas Gov. Rick Perry joining the bandwagon Thursday.
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