South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said Friday that real estate mogul Donald Trump’s rhetoric on immigration is “going to kill” the Republican Party and its chances of winning back the White House in 2016.
Appearing on CNN’s “At This Hour” with hosts John Berman and Kate Bolduan, Graham argued that Trump’s comments on Mexican illegal immigrants is “going to destroy” the GOP’s chances of winning in 2016, adding further that the party “needs to be clear about how we handle this.”
GRAHAM: He said something that has brought people who are frustrated about immigration system to life, but he also said it in a way that’s going to kill my party. Here’s the problem with the Republican party nationally. We are getting 27 percent of the Hispanic vote. We are getting less than 10 percent of the African-American vote and about 25 percent, 26 percent of the Asian vote. You’ll never convince me that we’ve gone from 44 percent of the Hispanic vote now do you to 27 percent if it were not for the rhetoric around the immigration debate. This is a moment for the party. When Donald Trump says, who has done many good things, he sponsors charities for wounded warriors. He’s given a lot of money away to good causes, but as a presidential candidate he said the following, that most illegal immigrants are rapists and drug dealers and there may be some among them that are good. That’s reinforcing a narrative between the Republican Party and the Hispanic community that is going to destroy our ability to win a presidential election. And the party needs to be clear about how we handle this.