Sen. Lindsey Graham Says He Won’t Back Mitch McConnell If Trump Doesn’t

Senate Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) announced on Tuesday that he will be running for another term as the top Republican in the Senate.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) went on Fox’s Hannity to give his reaction on the news.

“Elections are about the future,” Graham said. “If you want to be a Republican leader in the House or the Senate, you have to have a working relationship with Donald Trump. Can Sen. McConnell effectively work with the leader of the Republican party, Donald Trump? He is the most consequential Republican since Ronald Reagan. It’s his nomination if he wants it.”

This comes after Trump’s Tuesday interview with NPR, where he called McConnell a “loser” after he defended Sen. Mike Rounds (R-South Dakota) for publically confirming President Joe Biden‘s 2020 election win and saying it was time for the Republicans to move on. Trump believes that McConnell has been a weak leader by giving in to the Democrats and passing Biden’s $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill. The bill made it easier for Biden to implement his domestic agenda.

“It’s not infrastructure and we had 19 Republicans voting for it,” Trump said at the time. “What a shame. But Mitch McConnell gave this. That guy should resign as the leader.”

McConnell and Trump worked together to swear in three Supreme Court justices and implement tax cuts for the rich, but their relationship took a hit after the Capitol riots and Trump’s false claims of a rigged election.

“I am not going to vote for anybody for leader of the Senate as a Republican unless they can prove to me that they can advocate an ‘America First’ agenda and have a working relationship with Donald Trump because if you can’t do that you will fail,” Graham added.