South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said President Donald Trump is “not far behind God” as he celebrated a Republican primary victory and hailed the president as the party’s most influential political figure.
Addressing supporters after his win on Tuesday night, Graham thanked those who backed his campaign before joking that he first wanted to acknowledge “the big guy, God ... Trump comes later.”
“Mr. President, you're not far behind God, but we're going to start with him,” Graham said, drawing laughter from the crowd.
Trump endorsed Graham in March, calling him a “wonderful friend” who “WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN".
Graham leaned heavily on the endorsement during the campaign, spending millions of dollars on advertising highlighting Trump's backing and his own record in office.
“Mr. President, when you endorsed me early on, it changed everything,” Graham said. “You're the gold standard in the Republican world, the most consequential endorsement, I think, in the history of politics, and when you spoke, the people of South Carolina listened.”
He also predicted victory in November.
“President Trump, I'm coming back to the Senate in ’27. I'm going to win in November,” Graham said. “And I'm going to help you change this world and change this country.”
Graham was once a sharp critic of Trump and suggested in 2016 that he should be expelled from the Republican Party. Since then, he has become one of Trump's closest allies, at times comparing him to Winston Churchill and arguing that the Nobel Peace Prize should be renamed in his honour.
