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Tags: lindsey graham | mitch mcconnell | senate | leader

Sen. Graham Suggests He Won't Back McConnell as Senate GOP Leader

lindsey graham speaks to press
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on July 30, 2021, in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

By    |   Thursday, 13 January 2022 10:12 AM EST

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has long warned Republicans that former President Donald Trump is the face of the party, but now he is even firing a warning shot at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

Leading the Senate GOP requires following Trump, or McConnell should get out of the way, Graham effectively told Fox News' "Hannity" on Wednesday night.

"Elections are about the future," Graham said. "If you want to be a Republican leader in the House or the Senate, you have to have a working relationship with President Donald Trump.

"He's the most consequential Republican since Ronald Reagan. It's his nomination if he wants it, and I think he’ll get reelected in 2024."

But years before the next presidential election, there will be a decision on who leads the Senate GOP, and Graham suggested he could not vote for McConnell, who has broken with Trump after Jan. 6.

"I'm not going to vote for anybody for leader of the Senate as a Republican unless they can prove to me that they can advocate an 'American First' agenda and have a working relationship with President Trump, because if you can't do that, you will fail," Graham concluded.

Eric Mack

Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.

© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.


Politics
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has long warned Republicans that former President Donald Trump is the face of the party, but now he is even firing a warning shot at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell...
lindsey graham, mitch mcconnell, senate, leader
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2022-12-13
Thursday, 13 January 2022 10:12 AM
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