Sen. Lindsey Graham said Tuesday he doesn't care if fellow GOP candidate Donald Trump stays in the race or if he drops out: He just wants him to "stop being a jackass."
"I'm looking for him to be a responsible member of the 16-person primary and stop saying stuff like this," the South Carolina Republican and friend of Sen. John McCain told
CBS News on Tuesday, echoing comments he
made Monday night on CNN.
"The world is falling apart," Graham told CBS. "We're becoming Greece. The ayatollah's on the verge of having a nuclear weapon, and you're slandering everybody and anybody to stay in the news. You know, run for president, but don't be the world's biggest jackass."
Graham complained Tuesday that the controversy surrounding Trump's comments about McCain's captivity during the Vietnam War and his statements on illegal immigrants is "turning into a circus" that's overshadowing more important issues.
Trump has blamed the media for misinterpreting his comments, and told
Fox News' Bill O'Reilly on Monday that if there is a "misunderstanding" about his comments on McCain, he'd take them back.
But on Tuesday, Graham said Trump's continued arguments aren't enough.
"John's my friend. He's not a perfect person," he said of McCain. "He was tortured for five and a half years. When you ask Trump, 'Do you know what he went through in jail?' 'No, it doesn't matter.' Yeah, it does matter. It really does matter."
But meanwhile, the "sideshow" is distracting from more serious issues, said Graham, including the deal reached with Iran on its nuclear program.
"The president went to the U.N. instead of his own Congress," said Graham. "That's a sign of weakness, disrespect and a bad deal. [Qasem] Soleimani, the head of the Quds force that killed 500 Americans, at least, with copper-tipped IEDs has been taken off the sanctions list, and we can't talk about that because of Donald Trump."
"To the American people: This is a bad deal. It's going to lead to a nuclear arms race. Let's please move on to things that matter."
Graham also slammed President Barack Obama over the nuclear deal, which Congress has until Sept. 18 to accept or reject, calling him the "Neville Chamberlain of our time," comparing him to the British prime minister who presided over the
Munich Agreement with Adolf Hitler in September 1938.
"[He] believes that over the next 15 years, Iran is going to change their behavior, because this deal doesn't require them to do anything to change their behavior," Graham said. "At the end of 15 years, all inspections are lifted. Here's this bet. I don't think he's a bad man, I think he misunderstands the world and the Mideast."
He said he believes Congress will be able to override the presidential veto that is expected if it rejects the Iran agreement.
"A 'no' vote ensures that the next president, whoever he or she may be, will have leverage," said Graham. "If congressional sanctions are left in place, then the next president can get a better deal. We can get a better deal, we must get a better deal.
"A 'yes' vote take the congressional sanctions off the table. The next president has no leverage, and it's very bad for us and Israel."
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