(PatriotWise.com)- Former President Donald Trump has not officially made his intentions for the 2024 presidential election known, but one prominent Republican believes the GOP nomination his “for the taking if he wants.”
Over the weekend, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham said that Trump is still the leader of the Republican Party and could easily win the GOP nomination for the 2024 presidential election if that’s indeed what he wants.
That being said, Graham — who has long been considered a strong ally of Trump’s — said that the former president should be focusing ahead rather than still focusing on the 2020 presidential election.
As he said while being interviewed by the “This Week” program on ABC News on Sunday:
“He has a chance to come back. If he continues to talk about the 2020 election, I think it hurts his cause and, quite frankly, it hurts the Republican Party.”
What Graham is referring to is the fact that Trump continues to claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him, through election fraud that has been disproven time and again.
The former president drew the ire of many people recently when, during a speech at a rally, he said that if he were elected president in 2024, he would consider issuing pardons for the people who attacked the U.S. Capitol building on January 6, 2021.
Even some of Trump’s closest allies, including Graham, said they didn’t agree with that position at all. They believe that the people who attacked the Capitol were breaking the law and were try to prevent the peaceful transfer of power from the Trump administration to the Biden administration by stopping the certification of the Electoral College results.
In fact, Graham said Trump calling for the pardons was “inappropriate.”
In response, Trump labeled Graham something that he has only reserved for his biggest enemies; he called him a RINO, or a Republican In Name Only.
Despite being a big supporter and long-time ally of Trump’s, Graham has continually said that he doesn’t agree with the former president in contesting the 2020 presidential election results. That being said, he feels as though he’d like to “reform the system” through various pieces of legislation.
As Graham explained:
“The problems we found in 2020 need to be addressed. But the 2020 election is over for me.”
When pressed, Graham didn’t explain what he was referring to when he said “problems.”
Turning his focus back to the 2024 election, Graham said Trump just needs to focus his energy on all of the many accomplishments his administration had during their four years in the White House. By just comparing those accomplishments to the failures of the Biden administration, Trump should be able to easily distance himself from who would be his likely challenger in the general election.
Graham also explained that he believed the leadership in the GOP in both chambers of Congress must “have a working relationship with President Trump because most Republicans like President Trump’s policies.”
He added:
“Donald Trump is the most consequential Republican in the Republican Party today. He has a great chance of being president against in 2024. If he looks backward, I think he’s hurting his chances.”
