Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) is desperate to bring former President Donald Trump into the campaign fray regardless of whether the 45th president intends to run for his old office in 2024.
“I miss Donald Trump,” Graham told Fox News’ “Hannity” Tuesday night, adding, “I hope he’s considering running. Let’s start a ‘draft Trump’ movement. He’s the one guy I think can go to the American people and say, ‘Let me finish what I started. What I did worked.’”
Trump has not formally announced whether he will run for president again but has teased the possibility in several interviews.
The former president’s calendar is filling up, as well. Trump is scheduled to headline the North Carolina Republican Party convention on June 5 and is planning to hold two campaign-style rallies that same month.
The only grassroots movement to persuade a non-politician to mount a presidential campaign happened in 1952. After Dwight Eisenhower showed surprising strength in early nominating contests despite not being a declared candidate, he retired from the military in early June and formally entered the race. He was nominated at the Republican convention a month later and defeated Democrat Adlai Stevenson in the general election that November.
Graham also warned conservatives that if they don’t come out for next year’s midterm elections “you have nobody to blame but yourself.”
“Joe Biden’s overwhelmed by the job of being president,” he said. “The left has lost its mind. There’s more fentanyl that crossed the border this time in 2021 than in all of 2020. Israel is under the gun — 3,500 rockets [fired by Palestinian militants]. Where is it coming from? Iran. To the Biden administration, you would be insane to start negotiating with Iran as long as they’re still the largest state sponsor of terrorism.
“So I am very worried about our national security. I’m very worried about our border here at home. 2022’s gonna be a hell of an election.”