Jaime Harrison to release ad featuring 2016 Trump-Graham rivalry during SC Trump rally
A new ad from U.S. Senate hopeful Jaime Harrison’s U.S. Senate campaign — highlighting the tumultuous relationship between President Donald Trump and South Carolina U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham in 2016 — is set to air on Fox News on Friday during the president’s rally in North Charleston.
The ad, scheduled to air on Fox News statewide, uses clips from Graham’s interviews on the conservative station and footage of Trump at a 2016 campaign stop in Bluffton, South Carolina.
“This guy, Lindsey Graham, is one of the dumbest human beings I’ve ever seen,” Trump said in the video. “The guy is a nut job. I don’t want his endorsement.”
Trump goes on to say he thinks Graham is “one of the worst representatives,” before the ad cuts to Graham during a 2016 interview with Fox News.
“Donald Trump. I think he’s a cook. I think he’s crazy,” Graham says in the interview. “He’s not fit to be president of the United States.”
The ad then cuts back to Trump.
“I’ve never seen a guy so totally out of control,” Trump says. “I don’t think he could run for dog catcher in this state and win again. I really don’t.”
Graham and Trump’s rough relationship smoothed out after Trump won the presidency in 2016. Since then, Graham has become one of Trump’s closest allies and most vocal defenders.
But old clips of Graham have become a frequent tool that the senator’s opponents use against him. On several occasions, critics have made Graham’s words, sometimes from decades ago, go viral on social media, pointing to the reversals he has made.
The ad will come as Trump is speaking to a crowd of supporters in North Charleston. He was also scheduled to hold a fundraiser ahead of the rally, which would raise money for Graham, himself and the Republican Party.
Graham is facing one of the most competitive reelection races of his recent tenure. Both Graham and Harrison have broken fundraising records in their bids for the U.S. Senate seat. Harrison alone raised more than $3.5 million in the last few months of 2019.
