Republican senator and Donald Trump loyalist Lindsey Graham has warned that Trump risks losing the US presidential election if he continues to talk about Kamala Harris’ race and other personal attacks instead of focusing on policy issues.
Graham’s comments came on Meet The Press when he was asked if he agreed with Nikki Haley’s recent call that Trump and Republicans should “stop whining” and stop “talking about what race Kamala Harris is.”
“Yeah. I don’t think — I don’t think Vice President Kamala Harris is crazy,” Graham told Moderator Kristin Welker. “I think she’s the most liberal presidential candidate in the history of the United States.”
He said that elections have to be fought with politics. “Harris’s nightmare is defending his policy choices,” he said.
“President Trump can win this election,” Graham continued. “If you have a policy debate, he’s going to win. Donald Trump the provocateur may not win this election.
Trump’s ad hominem digs at Harris have ranged from disparaging and false comments about her race and intelligence to disparaging remarks about her appearance. Trump said during Saturday’s rally, “I’m a better looking person than Kamala” and that Harris had “the laugh of a crazy person.”
As Harris surged in the polls, many saw Trump’s rally in the crucial state of Pennsylvania as an opportunity to relaunch his campaign by focusing on issues important to voters, but he has instead continued to highlight personal differences.
Trump has repeatedly questioned the race of Harris, whose mother is Indian and whose father is Jamaican. Several weeks ago, during a chaotic appearance at a National Association of Black Journalists event, Trump falsely claimed that Harris had suddenly become a “black woman” and falsely claimed that she had only identified her Indian background.
“Is he Indian or black?” Trump remarked, drawing audible gasps. “I respect both of them, but of course not her because she was Indian all the way and then all of a sudden she became a black woman.”
