PHILADELPHIA — One of Donald Trump’s most prominent allies called his performance at the debate “a missed opportunity” and said it was crucial that the former president better defend his own administration if there were to be another debate.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told a handful of reporters in the spin room after the debate that he had gone on television to say he had not responded to Vice President Kamala Harris’ attack on the former president.
“She said, ‘We inherited a mess,'” Graham said. “I was screaming and screaming, ‘No, you didn’t — you inherited low gas prices, a secure border, a Covid vaccine, you inherited the biggest change in the Middle East in my lifetime, the Abraham Accords, and now it’s all fucked up.'”
Trump gave no such answer. And Graham made no attempt to hide his disappointment.
He wasn’t the only Republican worried about the former president’s greed and his continued inability to refocus the conversation on issues like inflation and President Joe Biden. It’s just that Graham, as is his wont, is saying in public what many in his party will only mutter in private.
After an extended conversation with Fox News personality Sean Hannity out of earshot, the always intriguing Republican senator emerged from behind a curtain and gave a succinct account of what he thought Trump should do if there were to be another debate.
“Take it easy,” Graham said, before offering advice as if Trump were standing next to him: “’What I did, what you got, and where we are now.’”
While he longed for what might have been, he added: “What I was hoping for was, ‘When I left we had the safest border in 40 years, mortgage rates were under three percent, gas was $1.87, the Abraham Accords, energy independence, you guys ruined it all.'”
Graham wouldn’t go so far as to say he thought Trump should make personnel changes, saying, “It’s not about the debate team.”
What he couldn’t say right away was that it was the candidate’s fault.
But Graham admitted the debate here was a “missed opportunity” because Trump “had the chance to put everything on the table.”
Then it was time to start coaching again.
“The central theme is ‘a nation in decline. If you could have done it, why didn’t you?’” Graham said.
Did he say that to Trump too?
“I said to him, ‘Your closing was great. If you have another debate, just continue effectively what you had and where we are now,’” Graham said, referring to the country before and after Trump.
And would he call Trump tomorrow to reinforce his message?
“Yes,” Graham answered immediately.
The senator and other nervous Republicans may get their wish for another debate.
After the debate, Harris’s aides and deputies emerged cheerfully with a clear message: They wanted another showdown in October.
“Bring it on!” said New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat. “She should have a second debate.”
