COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) 鈥 The long and occasionally quixotic relationship between Donald Trump and Lindsey Graham has again turned negative after the South Carolina senator criticized the former president for refusing to support a federal abortion ban.
Trump repeatedly disparaged Graham on his social media site and said he regretted endorsing the senator during his last reelection campaign. Graham, a staunch abortion opponent who has pushed for a national ban, did not back down from his criticism, saying Trump's view was an 鈥渆rror.鈥
But some observers of the Trump-Graham dynamic think both Republicans benefit from their public strife.
For Trump, they say, creating public distance from anti-abortion advocates might help him blunt President Joe Biden's attacks on an issue that Democrats have long credited for electoral victories since the U.S. Supreme Court, with three justices Trump nominated, overturned Roe v. Wade. Graham, meanwhile, gets to burnish his conservative bona fides against years of home-state criticism that he is too liberal.
State Rep. John McCravy, a Republican who sponsored South Carolina鈥檚 new law that bans most abortions at six weeks, said he could not see how the back-and-forth really harmed either Trump or Graham with voters.
Trump "wants to get elected, and I think that appearing to be moderate helps him to get elected,鈥 McCravy said. 鈥淩egardless of what they say, I think he鈥檚 taking the practical side of this. He鈥檚 pointing out something that鈥檚 true and using that to show that he鈥檚 not an extremist.鈥
Spokespeople for Trump's campaign and Graham's Senate office did not immediately comment when asked Friday about the squabble.
A smashed cellphone; a vow to 鈥榗ount me out鈥
The two have been at odds before.
They started off that way in the 2016 campaign when both sought the presidential nomination. Shortly after Trump launched his bid, Graham questioned Trump's mental fitness for office, calling him a 鈥渏ackass鈥 who 鈥渟houldn鈥檛 be commander in chief鈥 for making disparaging remarks about then-Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., one of Graham鈥檚 closest allies.
Campaigning in Graham鈥檚 home state a day later, Trump opened a rally by calling Graham a 鈥渓ightweight鈥 and 鈥渋diot鈥 before reading out the senator鈥檚 private cellphone number to the crowd's delight and disbelief. That move led Graham to after being deluged with angry messages.
Graham ultimately abandoned his own presidential effort and did not attend the 2016 convention, saying he would back neither Trump nor Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and that the Republican Party had been 鈥渃onned.鈥
But after Trump鈥檚 election, Graham was all in. He became one of the president鈥檚 top Senate confidants and a frequent Saying there was 鈥渁n obligation鈥 to help a president, especially a fellow Republican, Graham that he had warmed to Trump and suggested he had used that relationship to shape decisions. Graham did not cite specifics.
鈥淚鈥檝e tried to be helpful where I could because I think he needs all the help he can get,鈥 Graham said. 鈥淵ou can be a better critic when people understand that you鈥檙e trying to help them be successful.鈥
Graham helped shepherd the three Supreme Court nominees who were in the conservative majority that overturned Roe in 2022. That included Brett Kavanaugh, whom Graham defended against allegations of sexual assault. Graham called the 鈥渢he most unethical sham since I鈥檝e been in politics.鈥
That pivot toward Trump paid off when Graham ran for reelection in 2020. The senator鈥檚 popularity among Republicans in his home state grew as he developed a relationship with Trump.
In the days after that election, when Trump lost to Biden, Graham would be drawn into Trump鈥檚 legal woes. Graham was before a special grand jury investigating whether Trump and others illegally tried to influence the vote in Georgia. Trump and others eventually faced charges of .
Not long after, Graham would take to the Senate floor to deliver an emotional farewell to Trump鈥檚 term, saying he felt the then-president must accept his own role in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol and that the whole matter had been a disappointing 鈥渟elf-inflicted wound鈥 .
鈥淭rump and I, we鈥檝e had a hell of a journey. I hate it to end this way. Oh my God, I hate it,鈥 he said. 鈥淔rom my point of view, he鈥檚 been a consequential president, but today, first thing you鈥檒l see. All I can say is count me out, enough is enough.鈥
A union of mutual convenience
Just weeks later, Graham visited Trump at his Florida home. And Graham stood by Trump as the former president launched latest White House campaign and faced .
Dating back more than a decade, Graham has been criticized by South Carolina conservatives who have accused him of kowtowing to Democrats on issues from immigration and bank bailouts to gun restrictions and climate change. But he also hews to Republican priorities on national security and a strong defense of allies against Russia and China, defending Trump when he is criticized for suggesting he would encourage Russia to attack NATO allies he considers delinquent.
Trump's backing helped blunt some conservative backlash in 2020, when Graham vanquished both primary challenges from the right and the best-funded Democratic opponent in history 鈥 Jaime Harrison, now the Democratic 香港六合彩挂牌资料 Committee chairman 鈥 sailing to victory by double digits, even as Trump lost.
Graham joined Trump's leadership team in South Carolina for the 2024 campaign, and Trump easily won the first-in-the-South primary.
But the anti-Graham voices among Trump's supporters have grown louder.
Campaigning for Trump across the early-voting states, Graham drew boos at rallies in New Hampshire and South Carolina, where for more than five minutes during his remarks in July. After Trump's South Carolina victory in February, Trump introduced his ally as someone who 鈥渉appens to be a little bit further left" than his other backers, adding, "I always say, when I鈥檓 in trouble on the left, I call up Lindsey Graham.鈥
With his seat up in 2026, Graham may be thinking of the discontented conservative voices he will likely face while campaigning, conservative strategist Dave Wilson said.
鈥淵ou know when you have two people who have never danced before, but they both know how to do the salsa, and the music starts playing, and they just know how to do the dance?" Wilson asked. "It鈥檚 like that. Trump and Graham know how to do the dance of Washington, and they鈥檙e doing it effectively. They know what they鈥檙e doing, and they鈥檙e doing it on purpose.鈥
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Associated Press writer Farnoush Amiri in Washington contributed to this report.
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