"Who should replace him?"
Posted on 07/12/2026 5:37:07 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
President Donald Trump said he has “somebody” in mind to replace Sen. Lindsey Graham but won’t reveal yet out of respect for the South Carolina Republican’s death.
Trump called in to NBC News’s Meet the Press on Sunday, just hours after Graham’s death, appearing in the time slot Graham himself was supposed to take. After paying tribute to his close ally, the president was asked about the replacement process.
“I have somebody that I think would be great, but I don’t want to say it now because it’s too soon with Lindsey. I don’t want to even talk about anybody, but I do have somebody that I think is really good,” he said.
Trump went on to heap praise on Gov. Henry McMaster (R-SC), who has the sole authority to appoint Graham’s replacement, per South Carolina law. Trump’s hold on the party means he has the de facto say over who gets appointed.
The president took time to get in a swipe against Nikki Haley, his former U.N. ambassador and 2024 rival.
“I removed somebody from office that I didn’t think was so good, moved her over to the United Nations … because the United Nations job was not exactly tough. Yeah, it could be very important, but she was OK at it,” he said, referring to Haley.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
Nancy Mace is thinking “He’s talking about ME!! Anybody could see that! Let me get my wardrobe selected and packed”
Well, he’ll get a lot of kind words and honor from people. I can say for certain, there will be no more Grahamnesty coming from him that we all have to deal with.
I’ll prefer Nancy Mace over Nikki Haley.
Packed and stacked. I owned a few of the G-man’s calendars.
And that’s how you freeze the playing field.
“ I’ll prefer Nancy Mace over Nikki Haley.”
***************************************
Agree… but I’d prefer neither of those two. McMasters, unfortunately, is a political ally of Haley so he may go with her. Whoever he picks will only serve until January 2027 when whoever wins this fall’s general election is sworn in. Of course whoever he picks could also end up winning the general election.
There will be a lot of jockeying in the quickly arriving special Republican primary election which will be announced shortly.
"Who should replace him?"
Trump endorsed Lindsey Graham.
I am extremely nervous about who he would endorse in the near future and early rumors were that Trump was on the verge of endorsing John Cornyn too.
This is just not a situation where we should expect a victory.
Note: I want to be wrong.
SC is so politically weird. Who’s the last real conservative from there?
Time well spent if you ask me, Haley will no doubt want the job.
Preston Brooks?
Of course, it’s not Trump’s responsibility to select a successor, that would be the governor of South Carolina’s, might be nice if he could actually acknowledge that. In reality, Trump will be heavily involved in this, and will most certainly sign off on the replacement, but I wish just for one time he would be quiet.
Senator Tom Scott will tell you that he was the most recent real conservative from SC.
Just don’t mention that the defendant in any case was black.
Tom seems to have a hard time remaining objective when the aggressor is black. Maybe he’s gotten better about that.
**Not to Michael Steele levels, though.
Michael Steele was the 1st black man to serve as chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC).
His term was rather short: 2009 to 2011.
There was one rumor that President Trump might endorse Cornyn. He endorsed Paxton, end of rumor. No worries.
I think Ralph Norman would be a good choice. He has a 92 Liberty Score and A rating compared with Lindsey Graham’s failing grade of 43. He is the congressman from Rock Hill (SC Charlotte suburbs).
Why?
Trump is right 80% of the time.
That's good enough for me.
“I have somebody that I think would be great, but I don’t want to say it now because it’s too soon with Lindsey. I don’t want to even talk about anybody, but I do have somebody that I think is really good,”
I don’t see a problem with this statement.
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