Republican Senator and staunch Trump ally, Lindsey Graham, has cautioned former President Donald Trump against focusing on personal attacks, particularly on Vice President Kamala Harris's race, warning that such tactics could jeopardize his chances in the upcoming U.S. presidential election.
In an appearance on NBC's "Meet The Press," Graham was asked if he concurred with Nikki Haley's recent advice for Trump and the Republican Party to "quit whining" and stop fixating on Harris's race. Graham responded affirmatively, stating, "Yeah. I don’t think – I don’t look at Vice-President Kamala Harris as a lunatic. I look at her as the most liberal person to be nominated for president in the history of the United States."
Graham emphasized that the election should be centered on policy issues rather than personal attacks. "A nightmare for Harris is to defend her policy choices," he said. "President Trump can win this election if he focuses on policy debates. However, Donald Trump the provocateur, the showman, may not win this election."
Trump's remarks about Harris have included disparaging and false comments about her race and intelligence, as well as snide remarks about her appearance. During a recent rally in Pennsylvania, Trump stated, “I’m a better-looking person than Kamala” and described Harris as having “the laugh of a crazy person.”
With Harris gaining in the polls, many viewed Trump's rally in the crucial swing state as an opportunity to refocus his campaign on issues important to voters. Instead, he continued to emphasize personal differences.
Trump has repeatedly questioned Harris's racial identity, whose mother is Indian and father is Jamaican. In a chaotic appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) several weeks ago, Trump incorrectly claimed that Harris had only recently "become a Black woman" and falsely stated that she had previously identified solely with her Indian background. “Is she Indian or is she Black?” Trump remarked, prompting audible gasps. “I respect either one, but she obviously doesn’t because she was Indian all the way and then all of a sudden she became a Black woman.”
On Sunday, Harris suggested without directly naming Trump that his constant attacks on opponents were indicative of cowardice. “Over the last several years, there’s been this kind of perversion that has taken place, which is to suggest that the measure of the strength of a leader is based on who you beat down. When what we know is the real and true measure of the strength of a leader is based on who you lift up,” Harris said at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. “Anybody who’s about beating down other people is a coward.”
JD Vance, Trump’s vice-presidential candidate, has echoed Trump's personal attacks on Harris, describing her as a coward for avoiding scrutiny and unfriendly media. “President Trump walked right into the NABJ conference and showed he had the courage to take tough questions, while Kamala Harris continues to hide from any scrutiny or unfriendly media like the coward she is,” Vance wrote last month.
Graham's warning comes as the presidential campaign intensifies, with calls for both candidates to focus on substantive policy debates rather than personal attacks.
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