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- President-elect Joe Biden told Stephen Colbert he was disappointed GOP Senator Lindsey Graham did not recognize him as the winner in the 2020 election.
- “Lindsey was a personal disappointment because I was a personal friend of her,” Biden said.
- Graham, once a harsh critic of President Donald Trump, supported the president’s long-term legal efforts to overturn the election results.
- The South Carolina Republican was previously a close friend of Biden. In 2015, Graham said Biden is “as good a man as God ever created him.”
- Visit the Business Insider homepage for more stories.
President-elect Joe Biden was asked Thursday by Stephen Colbert if he could save his relationship with GOP Senator Lindsey Graham, who is on the long list of Republicans in Congress still refusing to recognize the election results.
“Lindsey was a personal disappointment because I was a friend of hers,” Biden told Colbert.
“But listen, I think I can work with the Republican leadership in the House and the Senate,” Biden continued. “I think we can get things done. And I think once that president is out of office, I think you’re going to see his impact on the body politic wear off, and a lot of these Republicans are going to feel like they’ve had a lot more room. to run and cooperate. “
Graham is one of President Donald Trump’s closest allies in Congress. Although the South Carolina Republican has a long history with Biden and they were once considered close friends, he did not join his GOP colleagues in recognizing the former vice president as the winner of the Election. 2020.
On Monday, Graham voiced support for Trump’s legal efforts to overturn the election results. “Let’s see where the remaining legal challenges go. But it’s a very narrow road,” Graham said, per Politico.
Trump and his GOP allies have failed to win any lawsuits over dozens of lawsuits aimed at overturning election results. The president has baselessly claimed that Biden won due to massive electoral fraud.
—Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) December 18, 2020
The Electoral College certified Biden’s victory on Monday, and GOP Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell went on to congratulate him.
In a leaked phone call Tuesday, McConnell pleaded with his Senate colleagues to reject efforts to prevent Congress from formally recognizing Biden’s victory. Congress is expected to hold a joint session on Jan.6 to count the electoral votes and confirm that Biden is the winner of the election.
Although Graham has strong ties to Trump these days, he sang a different tune during the 2016 campaign cycle. In a 2015 interview with CNN, Graham called Trump a “racist, xenophobic and religious fanatic.” .
“Do you know how you make America great again? Tell Donald Trump to go to hell,” Graham said at the time.
In a separate interview with the HuffPost in 2015, Graham praised Biden.
“If you can’t admire Joe Biden as a person, you’ve got a problem. You have to do a self-assessment, because, what’s not to like?” Graham said. He said Biden was “as good a man as God ever created”.
“He said some of the most incredibly sincere things anyone can tell me. He’s the nicest person I think I have ever met in politics,” Graham added of Biden.
During this interview, Graham became emotional as he spoke of Biden, who has been through great personal tragedies, and said that people shouldn’t “take relationships for granted.”
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