Sen. Lindsey Graham
Lindsey Olin GrahamWinners and losers from 2020's election Polling outlets draw fire after missing mark again Graham chides pollsters, Democratic donors following win MORE (R-S.C.) mocked Donald Trump
Donald John TrumpAides tried to get Trump to stop attacking McCain in hopes of clinching Arizona: report Officials warn delayed vote count could lead to flood of disinformation New Trump campaign lawsuit targets late-arriving Georgia mail ballots MORE Wednesday, suggesting the Republican candidate was going through the motions during last night's debate.
“This is Donald on Valium," Graham said on MSNBC’s "Morning Joe."
Graham, who failed to qualify for either of the GOP debates on Tuesday night, recalled that some "Trump people" had come up to him in the morning while he was eating breakfast in New Hampshire wanting to get their picture taken with him.
“[They said], ‘Oh, I love you!' I said, ‘You’re apparently not listening to what I’m saying.' But it was nice to be loved.”
Graham criticized Trump’s remarks on Syria during Tuesday night’s debate in which he said that he supports Russian President Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich PutinBiden begins two-day campaign sprint in battleground Pennsylvania Trump, Biden trade insults as they duke it out in key battlegrounds Guard stabbed at French Consulate in Saudi Arabia MORE “knocking the heck” out of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
“Donald has got a bad deal in the making.”
“He’s willing to leave Assad in power, which gives Syria a run,” Graham said, referencing Syrian Leader Bashar Assad. "I’m never willing to do that.”
Graham also took issue with the other Republican contenders’ plans for combating ISIS.
“The one thing I did not hear last night was a plan to destroy ISIL,” he said, using an alternate acronym for the terrorist organization.
“I think they’re equal to the Nazis, in many ways worse,” Graham said. "They want a master religion for the world. The Nazis wanted a master race.
“The wake-up call is coming,” he added. "They’re coming here if we don’t stop them there.”
Trump has repeatedly praised Russia’s intervention in Syria, arguing it will eradicate ISIS without costing U.S. lives.
Jeb Bush attacked the billionaire’s stance during Tuesday evening’s debate.
“That’s like playing a board game,” Bush said. "That’s like playing Monopoly. That’s not how the real world works.”
President Obama has frequently stated that Syria’s civil war has rendered Assad’s regime illegitimate.
