friends like these

Donald Trump reveals the reason Lindsey Graham “kisses my a**”

Donald Trump and (inset) Senator Lindsey Graham
Donald Trump and (inset) Lindsey Graham (Photos: Gage Skidmore, via CC BY-SA 2.0)

Former President Donald Trump has been talking about his relationship with other leading GOP figures. In particular, he addressed why—as he puts it—South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham “kisses my a**.”

He says it’s to secure endorsements from Trump for Graham’s friends and allies.

The revelation comes in a new book from New York Times correspondent Maggie Haberman.

Haberman conducted three interviews with Trump after he departed the White House. It led to her new book, Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America.

Extracts appeared yesterday in The Atlantic.

As told to Haberman, Graham and Texas Senator Ted Cruz persuaded Trump not to endorse a challenger to Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.). Instead, Trump endorsed Sasse: a decision he went on to regret as Sasse voted to convict the then President during his second impeachment.

“Like a schmuck, I went along with it,” Trump said of the requests to back Sasse.

Related: Lindsey Graham may want to stay off Twitter today

Haberman says she turned up to interview Trump at his Bedminster golf club. When she arrived, Lindsey Graham was there in golf pants. Trump entered the room, followed swiftly by Graham.

Graham gestured toward Trump and said, “The greatest comeback in American history!”

Trump looked at Haberman. “You know why Lindsey kisses my ass?” Trump asked. “So I’ll endorse his friends.”

Haberman says Graham “laughed uproariously” at this suggestion.

Lindsey Graham’s changing position on Donald Trump

Senator Graham was a vocal critic of Donald Trump before the latter became President. Since then, he has become a firm supporter of Trump, even if they have occasionally disagreed.

A few weeks ago, Graham faced backlash after saying there would be “riots in the streets” if Trump faced prosecution for taking classified records to Mar-a-Lago.

As his support for Trump has grown, Graham has turned resolutely against Joe Biden. Although always on the opposite side of the fence, politically, Graham sang Biden’s praises back in 2015, saying he was “the nicest person I think I’ve ever met in politics. He’s as good a man as God ever created.”

That admiration seems to have evaporated. Over the weekend, Graham blasted Biden as “clueless” for opposing the Senator’s proposed 15-week federal limit on abortion.

Related: Mary Trump predicts uncle Donald Trump’s next move as his downfall accelerates

Trump on McConnell

Besides Graham and Cruz, Trump also spoke to Haberman about Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell.

“The Old Crow’s a piece of sh*t,” he said bluntly. Haberman had asked Trump about his perception of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Trump appeared to admire his strength. She asked if he thought the White House would operate in the same sort of way as Jinping ran things.

“Well, I figured that the Mitch McConnells would be like him, in the sense of strength.”

Haberman’s book is out October 4.

Don't forget to share:

Help make sure LGBTQ+ stories are being told...

We can't rely on mainstream media to tell our stories. That's why we don't lock Queerty articles behind a paywall. Will you support our mission with a contribution today?

Cancel anytime · Proudly LGBTQ+ owned and operated