It kinda sounds like Lindsey Graham is thinking about maybe possibly perhaps breaking up with Donald Trump

No other person in Washington, D.C. has been more loyal to Donald Trump than Lindsey Olin Graham. It doesn’t seem to matter what Trump does to him–whether it’s giving out his personal cell phone number at a press conference and telling people to “try it” or sending an angry mob to attack the building he’s in–Graham keeps on coming back for more.

But in a new interview with The Post and Courier, the gay-hating senator from South Carolina seemed like maybe, just maybe, he’s considering perhaps possibly breaking up with the one term, twice impeached, twice indicted ex-president after seven years of living under his tiny thumb.

Graham recounted a recent phone call he had with Trump, in which he urged the early 2024 GOP frontrunner to cool it with the grievance politics as he heads into primary season.

“I told him to talk more about the future,” he recalled. “Grievances just give an opening to your opponents.”

In case you haven’t noticed, since losing in 2020, Trump has spent nearly every waking moment ranting about how the election was “rigged” (it wasn’t) and how Democrats “cheated” (they didn’t).

And since being indicted by a grand jury in Florida earlier this month over his alleged mishandling of classified documents and his efforts to obstruct government retrieval of them, he’s been raving about how he is the victim of a “witch hunt” (he’s not) and how the DOJ has been “weaponized” against him (it hasn’t).

Just yesterday, he took to his Truth Social page to fire off a series of ALL CAPS posts accusing the Justice Department and the FBI of planting evidence against him and calling on Congress to launch an oFfIcIaL iNvEsTiGaTiOn into the matter.

“CONGRESS, PLEASE INVESTIGATE THE POLITICAL WITCH HUNTS AGAINST ME CURRENTLY BEING BROUGHT BY THE CORRUPT DOJ AND FBI, WHO ARE TOTALLY OUT OF CONTROL,” he raged. “THIS CONTINUING SAGA IS RETRIBUTION AGAINST ME FOR WINNING AND, EVEN MORE IMPORTANTLY TO THEM, ELECTION INTERFERENCE REGARDING THE 2024 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. IT WILL BE THERE UPDATED FORM OF RIGGING OUR MOST IMPORTANT ELECTION. LOOK AT THE POLLS – THEY CAN’T BEAT ME (MAGA!) AT THE BALLOT BOX, THE ONLY WAY THEY CAN WIN IS TO CHEAT. STOP THEM NOW!”

Speaking to The Post and Courier, Graham said he and Trump also talked about his standing in South Carolina, an early primary state and home to not one but two of his primary challengers: Former Gov. Nikki Haley and U.S. Sen. Tim Scott. 

Right now, polls show Trump leading the state by over 50%. Meanwhile, Haley and Scott barely register at 4% and 3% respectively.

“I told him I thought the indictment backlash would probably do more to help him than hurt him in South Carolina,” Graham told The Post and Courier.

Then his tone shifted.

Because while current polling shows Trump way outperforming Haley and Scott in the Palmetto State, Ron “Don’t Say Gay” DeSantis, his chief rival for the GOP nomination, has been creeping upward nationwide.

An Emerson College national poll released yesterday found that, while Trump still leads the Republican field, he’s down 3 points from a previous poll conducted in April. Meanwhile, DeSantis is up 5 points.

And a CNN survey released earlier this week showed his support among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents nationwide has dipped 6 points since just last month, while support for DeSantis has remained unchanged.

“Trump has a commanding lead, but no, it’s not over. There are so many things that can happen,” Graham said, before praising DeSantis for his “heck of a record as governor.”

A record, we should note, that has included attacking LGBTQ+ people and families, banning books, fighting with Disney, and harming trans kids.

“The biggest challenge for President Trump is to convince Republicans that he can win,” Graham continued. “The South Carolina primary is President Trump’s to lose.”

Now, we really don’t want to read too much into the tone of Graham’s comments since we’re 99.99% sure how this will end: If Trump wins the nomination, he’ll continue licking his boots as he has since 2016. If DeSantis wins the nomination, he’ll pivot and throw his undying support behind him instead.

But the fact that he’s laying the groundwork to possibly do that is telling. As one of Trump’s most loyal lapdogs, Graham now seems to be plotting his exit strategy, suggesting his confidence in his master is shaking.

Trump currently faces 37 criminal counts in federal court over the classified documents case and 34 felony counts in New York over the Stormy Daniels hush money case, with another indictment expected later this summer out of Georgia pertaining to his alleged meddling in the 2020 election, and a second federal indictment expected soon over his alleged involvement in January 6, plus an ongoing $250 million civil fraud lawsuit filed against him by New York Attorney General Letitia James. He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

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