Former President Donald Trump poked fun at Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) during a campaign stop in South Carolina on Saturday, claiming the senator was half Democrat, half Republican after the conservative was met with boos.
“We’re going to love him. He’s half and half. When we need those liberal votes, we need him. We know the good ones. We know the bad ones, too,” Trump said as the crowd booed.
It was not the first time that a rally of Trump supporters booed at the mention of the South Carolina senator. An audience of pro-Trumpers booed in April when the former president mentioned Graham, whom he called “the progressive senator from South Carolina.”
Trump later claimed he was grateful for Graham’s support and endorsement during the rally, but then jokingly asked if he could come stump for Graham during his own reelection bid in the Senate.
“I’m going to have to work on these people. He’s there when you need him,” Trump told the crowd. “Do you mind if I come down and campaign a little for you, Lindsey?”
“He was one of my earliest endorsements from the go, and I appreciate it, Lindsey.”
Graham endorsed Trump for the Republican nomination in April, choosing the front-runner over fellow South Carolinians former Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC), and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC). But despite the endorsement, Graham was booed when delivering remarks at the Pickens rally on Saturday.
The loudest boos came when Graham began to highlight his relationship with the former president.
“I found common ground with President Trump,” Graham said. “I [came] to like President Trump, and he likes himself, so we got that in common.”
Graham added that he supports the former president because he never saw anyone fight so hard for the United States, and because no other candidate was feared by the left more than Trump.
The South Carolina senator also warned about what was at stake if Republicans did not win back the White House next year, such as liberals packing the Supreme Court, the statehood of Puerto Rico and D.C., and abolishing the Electoral College.
“There’s one person running for president as a Republican that has the ability to change this country. It is Donald J. Trump. He did it once, he can do it again,” he said. “I’m gonna help him all over this country, and folks, I am from South Carolina. He is gonna win South Carolina. This is the pathway to the presidency. God bless you all. God bless President Trump. God bless America.”
