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More bad news for Donald Trump … with a side-order of shade from Lindsey Graham

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Donald Trump and Lindsey Graham
Donald Trump and Lindsey Graham (Photo: Shutterstock/Gage Skidmore, via CC BY-S.A 2.0)

Although his attention may be more focused on his hush money trial in Manhattan, Donald Trump could perhaps take some comfort from his success in yesterday’s Republican primary in Pennsylvania. 

Then again, maybe not. 

With 99% of the votes counted, Trump easily won, taking 83.5% of the Republican ticket. However, according to the Associated Press, Nikki Haley, who suspended her campaign six weeks ago, garnered 16.5% of GOP voters. 

Yes, one in six GOP voters (approximately 156,000) cast their vote for someone who’s no longer running. 

That’s a large number of Republicans who appear still unwilling to back Trump. Even if they don’t switch to voting Democrat in November, they may decide to stay home instead. 

“Trump has no shot to win the presidency”

Pennsylvania is a swing state and could go either way. Biden won it with just a one percent majority in 2020. According to a survey this week in The Hill, Trump is polling 47% to Biden’s 46% in the state. Trump clearly needs as many Republicans to come out and support him as possible. 

Biden also won his primary in Pennsylvania yesterday. He too faced a protest vote, but he took 93.1% of the vote. Rival Dean Phillips, who like Hayley has suspended his campaign, garnered 6.9% of the vote. The number of people who voted “uncommitted” has not yet been fully counted. 

When it became apparent that Hayley was gaining votes in Pennsylvania last night, one former Trump associate said it spelled disaster for the former President. 

A former White House communications director, Anthony Scaramucci tweeted: “Nikki Haley dropped out of the race over a month ago, yet she is polling nicely in PA.

“Trump has no shot to win the presidency. Write it down and study it. And if you are with him: CRY.”

Lindsey Graham

Besides the Pennsylvania result, Donald Trump probably did not appreciate comments made last night by South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham. 

Graham was among nine Republican Senators who last night decided to back the foreign aid bill passed by the Senate. It sends billions to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. 

In February, Graham refused to vote for the bill, despite previously promising to continue supporting Ukraine and Israel. He said he wouldn’t pass the package unless it also included border security measures.

Yesterday, he said a bipartisan bill to send more money to tighten border security was scuppered by Donald Trump. 

“Everybody who says we should do something about border legislation, you’re absolutely right but unfortunately, we didn’t get there because Trump opposed a Senate bill that … we couldn’t find a better way forward that would get 60 votes. I hate that.”

Graham was a vocal critic of Trump before 2016. However, once Trump became the official Republican nominee for President, Graham became one of his biggest supporters. He has continued to champion him ever since. 

For Graham to make even vaguely critical comments about Trump is unusual. It follows the two men having a public disagreement of opinion earlier this month over abortion limits.

Many were quick to seize upon Graham’s comments, including the Biden-Harris campaign. 

Loans to Ukraine

Earlier this week, Graham tried to suggest people have Donald Trump to thank for the passing of the Ukraine aid.

How does he come to that conclusion?

Ukraine is due to get around $60 billion to help it continue its fight against Russia. However, around ten percent of that will be in the form of repayable loans – an idea previously suggested by Trump to Speaker Mike Johnson.

“There’s a loan component to it,” Graham told Fox News on Sunday. “This would not have passed without President Trump. I want to thank the House Speaker [Mike Johnson] and [Minority Leader] Hakeem Jeffries working together in a bipartisan fashion to give weapons to Ukraine to fight a fight that matters to us. And President Trump has created a loan component to this package that gives us leverage down the road.”

On X, Graham repeated that claim last night. He said, “President Trump’s support for turning portions of this aid into a loan was a game-changer for getting this across the finish line.”

Expect Donald Trump to overlook this praise, instead focus on Graham’s disparaging remarks last night, and post a bitchy putdown of the South Carolina senator on Truth Social at some stage today. 

Related:

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