WASHINGTON DC (Age-ncies): Sen. Lindsey Grah-am (R-S.C.) reportedly told former President Trump, “You f’d up your presidency” earlier this year when attempting to advise him to accept that he lost the 2020 presidential election.
This apparent bit of hard truth from the South Carolina Republican was shared on Sunday by renowned Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward while he was discussing his new book “Peril” on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Host Chuck Todd asked Woodward and book co-author and fellow Post reporter Robert Costa how they would characterize the attitude Graham and former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows had towards Trump’s refusal to accept the election results.
“We quote conversations between Senator Graham and Trump, in which, Lindsey Graham says to Trump, “You f-‘ up your presidency,” at one point just a couple of months ago. The authors said Trump hung up on Graham and then called him back a day later when Graham said to him, ‘I would have hung up, too,’” Woodward said.
“The core conclusion that Graham has is you lost a close election. Face it,” said Woodward.
The Hill has reached out to Graham’s office for comment.
Todd asked Costa if Trump truly believes he lost the election, noting that he and Woodward quote Trump as saying that if he does not continue fighting the election results then he will lose his base of supporters.
“I’ve learned covering President Trump and covering politics, it doesn’t really matter sometimes what people think it’s what they do and to assume nothing,” Costa said.
“In 2015 a lot of people said Donald Trump won’t run. He’ll never win once he announced in 2016. Well he won and lost in 2020, He wants power back, our reporting in the book shows,” Costa continued. “He’s out there with this Churchillian type language, ‘We’ll never surrender. We’ll never give in,’ whipping up thousands of people across the country.”
