Left Behind: Lindsey Graham Says Policy That Will Keep Him Out Of GOP Debates ‘Sucks’
It’s been a tough week for Senator Lindsey Graham. First, GOP rival Donald Trump gave out Graham’s personal cell phone number during a public appearance as revenge of Graham’s denunciation of the billionaire tycoon as a “jackass.” After the brazen move by Trump, Graham was inundated with unsolicited calls, ultimately trashing his cell phone and bought a new one. Now, the South Carolina Senator is coming to terms with the fact that he will not be invited to participate in the first Republican presidential debate on August 6. And he’s not happy.
“I think it sucks,” Graham said during an appearance on MSNBC’s Morning Joe.
Politico noted that Lindsey Graham lamented the new rules that have led to his all but certain exclusion from the debates. Fox, who is hosting the first Republican debate, will only allow the 10 candidates with the best polling averages to participate in the televised event. The Republican National Committee endorsed this criterion, and CNN has adopted the same policy for the second debate.
According to the New York Times, the above-noted polling requirements would, at present, exclude Senator Graham from the debate, along with Carly Fiorina, Bobby Jindal, George Pataki, and Rick Santorum. Ohio Governor John Kasich, who launched his campaign for president earlier this week, is also unlikely to make it into the top 10 prior to the Fox debate.
Lindsey Graham acknowledged that his spat with Donald Trump has garnered some much-needed media attention for his campaign, but he added that he would prefer to focus on the more pressing issues of the day in his effort to earn votes. Nevertheless, Graham still took the chance to poke a few more jabs at Trump via his subsequent comments.
“The only way we’re going to lose this election is to continue to say things like Donald Trump is saying and having people like me respond endlessly,” Graham told MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough. “Donald Trump is a great showman. That’s why all these companies hired him to sell their products. There’s a reason, Joe, that all these companies are firing him, because he’s become toxic as a presidential candidate, and I hope we all understand that on the Republican side.”
Given the dramatic and frequent lead changes during the 2012 elections, it’s entirely possible that Trump — who now leads his rivals by double digits — will see a number of prominent politicians aggressively challenge him for the top spot in the field as the race tightens. But for Lindsey Graham, who is reportedly polling at less than 1 percent at the moment, a spot in the televised debates is one of many challenges ahead when it comes to his survival in what is shaping up to be a wild and woolly political season.
[Photo by Darren McCollester/Getty Images]
