South Carolina Senator, and one-time GOP contender Lindsey Graham on Friday endorsed Jeb Bush in the GOP presidential race, but also came after front-runner Donald Trump on immigration.
Graham said that he took issue with Trump’s repeated proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States, in the name of national security concerns. During the debate, which Graham was in the audience for, Bush pushed back against Trump’s suggestion, saying “all Muslims? Seriously?”
“Last night I heard from Jeb Bush the right answer,” Graham said, adding “we cannot and should not declare war on a religion.”
Graham took aim at the other GOP contenders and their immigration proposals, saying “Jeb has proven to me that he’ll stand up to people running against him, who are saying things that sound good to some, but will hurt the country, and don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of ever passing.”
“Jeb Bush is ready on day one to be a commander-in-chief,” Graham said at the joint press conference, adding that he could not “think of a worse idea” for how to win the fight against ISIS that Trump’s Muslim ban suggestion.
Graham touted his ability to navigate the discussion on immigration, saying that in his career in the Senate, he has had to deal with opponents on both sides of the aisle. Saying that his opponents ranged from “mildly disturbed, to completely crazy,” Graham argued at the press conference that he won’t be told that “you can’t talk rationally about immigration.”
