Graham says he cannot support Trump | The State

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said Friday that he “cannot in good conscience” support Donald Trump, his own party’s presumptive nominee, and won’t vote for him in November.

“I do not believe he is a reliable Republican conservative nor has he displayed the judgment and temperament to serve as commander in chief,” Graham said in a statement.

“It’s hard to believe that in a nation of more than 300 million Americans, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will be our choices for president.”

Graham was joined in spurning Trump later Friday by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who — like Graham — successfully sought the GOP nomination.

Bush said on Facebook that Trump has not demonstrated the temperament or strength of character needed to be president.

Trump became the de facto Republican nominee after U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Ohio Gov. John Kasich dropped out of the race earlier this week following Trump’s landslide victory in Indiana’s primary.

"I would have supported all 16 except for The Donald," Graham said in an interview with CNN Friday, pointing out he even had supported Cruz despite their "monumental differences."

Graham also said he would not attend July’s Republican National Convention in Cleveland.

“Good luck to (U.S. House Speaker and convention chairman) Paul Ryan trying to find a conservative agenda with this guy,” Graham said of Trump. “A lot of my colleagues will vote for him enthusiastically, some will hold their nose. I just can't go there with Donald."

Graham’s declaration on Friday did not come as a surprise.

He has been one of Trump’s most outspoken critics from the very start, often saying he is “literally running out of adjectives” for the brash businessman. Last year, Graham described Trump as a “race baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot.”

Trump hit back as well.

In one memorable episode last summer, the New York billionaire developer and onetime-reality-TV star gave out the Graham’s cell phone number in retaliation for the Upstate Republican calling him “the world’s biggest jackass.”

On Friday, Trump said Graham is “beyond rehabilitation” and “an embarrassment” to South Carolina.

“I fully understand why Lindsey Graham cannot support me,” Trump said in a statement. “If I got beaten as badly as I beat him, and all the other candidates he endorsed, I would not be able to give my support either. He was a poor representative and an embarrassment to the great people of South Carolina.”

Trump says he intends to unify the party, but Graham “has shown himself to be beyond rehabilitation.” He added, “And like the voters who rejected him, so will I!”

After ending his own presidential bid in December, Graham endorsed Bush.

“To Donald Trump, congratulations, you did a hell of a thing, you beat me and everybody else,” Graham said on CNN. “I just really believe that the Republican Party has been conned here.”

In his statement Friday, Graham made it clear he also would not support Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton, who he said “represents a third term of Barack Obama” and his “failed policies at home or abroad.”

That doesn’t mean he will not vote at all, Graham told CNN.

"Oh, I'm definitely voting. I'm all in for Tim Scott," he said of South Carolina’s junior senator, who is up for re-election this fall. Graham also said he would support other Republicans who want his help, in South Carolina and across the country, except for Trump.

"I may just pass,” Graham said of voting in the presidential race. “I may write somebody in. I don't know. But I'm going to be enthusiastically behind the South Carolina Republican team.”

The comments by Graham and Bush show the widening schism dividing a GOP unsure of what to do with its eccentric nominee.

House Speaker Ryan on Thursday said he was “just not ready” to support Trump.

However, other prominent GOP figures, like former Texas Gov Rick Perry and former Vice President Dick Cheney, have called on the party to unify behind Trump to defeat Clinton in the Nov. 8 election.