Sen. Graham Urges Trump to Focus on Policy in Bid to Win 2024 Election

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Sunday warned former President Donald Trump that he may not win the election if he focuses on being a “showman” over policy.

In an interview with NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” Graham was asked whether the former president’s current strategy against his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, is working.

“President Trump can win this election. His policies are good for America, and if you have a policy debate for president, he wins. Donald Trump the provocateur, the showman, may not win this election,” Graham told NBC’s Kristen Welker.

The longtime lawmaker then added a caveat: “I’m looking for President Trump to show up in the last 80 days to define what he will do for our country, to fix broken borders, to lower inflation.”

Elaborating, Graham told the outlet that he believes Harris’s policies on the economy are “a nightmare” for her to defend during the race, suggesting Trump should focus on that instead.

“Every day we’re not talking about her policy choices as vice president and what she would do as president is a good day for her and a bad day for us,” he said.

Related Stories

Graham also said that other Republicans such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin should campaign for Trump in the coming weeks.

“Me and Nikki need to go to Georgia,” the senator said. “He’s got a lot of critics. He’s got a lot of advisers, but to Nikki Haley and DeSantis and Youngkin and all these great people we have, let’s get together and actually campaign for the guy.”

Earlier in August, similar comments about Trump’s strategy were made by former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who stepped down from office in December 2023 after being voted out of the speakership role.

Other Allies Comment

On Aug. 12, McCarthy told Fox News that Trump should not make the race about “personalities,” adding that he should focus on Harris’s record and policies. “Stop questioning the size of her crowds and start questioning her position,” he said.

Kellyanne Conway, a former Trump adviser and 2016 campaign manager, said last week that “the winning formula for President Trump is very plain to see.”

“It’s fewer insults, more insights, and that policy contrast,” she told Fox Business host Larry Kudlow, who also served in the Trump administration as head of the National Economic Council.

The Trump campaign has not responded to the remarks by Graham, Conway, or McCarthy. The Epoch Times contacted a Trump spokesperson for comment on Monday but didn’t receive a reply by publication time.

During a news conference last week at his Mar-a-Lago resort, Trump told reporters that he is “entitled to personal attacks” during the 2024 race.

“I think it’s very important that we win, and whether the personal attacks are good, bad, I mean, she certainly attacks me personally,” the former president said.

Making note of the criminal cases against him, the former president said, “Some people say, ‘Oh, why don’t you be nice?’ But they’re not nice to me.”

On Thursday, Trump’s campaign said in an emailed statement that Corey Lewandowski, one of Trump’s 2016 campaign managers, would join his 2024 campaign in some capacity.

The campaign separately announced a presidential transition team, which would consist of former WWE executive and former U.S. Small Business Administrator Linda McMahon, Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick, sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, and Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), his running mate.

Starting Monday, Harris, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, and other top Democrats will speak at the Democratic National Convention (DNC), held in Chicago.

The Trump campaign said in an emailed statement on Sunday that it would offer counter-programming by having Trump and Vance make appearances in several 2024 battleground states during the same time as the DNC.