Days after former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley was critical of former President Donald Trump, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham has weighed in on the growing rift.
During an appearance on Fox News Sunday, Graham said his fellow Republican from South Carolina was wrong for criticizing Trump.
On Friday, Haley, who served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations for the Trump administration, said the former president let down Republicans.
"We need to acknowledge he let us down," Haley said an interview published by Politico. "He went down a path he shouldn't have, and we shouldn't have followed him, and we shouldn't have listened to him. And we can't let that ever happen again."
Haley made her comments after Trump was impeached for a second time, over the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol when a violent mob of roughly 1,000 pro-Trump supporters pushed past Capitol police and broke into offices and the House and Senate chambers, briefly disrupting the Electoral College vote that affirmed Joe Biden's win over Trump in November's presidential election.
The riot followed a speech Trump gave at a "Save America" rally where he said "We're going to fight like hell."
When Fox News host Chris Wallace asked about Haley's comments that downplayed Trump's future in the GOP, Graham showed his support for the former president.
"No, Nikki's wrong about President Trump," Graham said. "He's mad at some folks, and I understand that."
Both Haley and Trump are potential 2024 presidential candidates who could be facing off for the Republican nomination.
But Graham was more focused on the midterm elections in 2022, when Republicans are hopeful of taking the majority in the House and Senate. Graham said he's turning to Trump to help those efforts, and plans to visit the former president in Florida this week, where he expects they also will play golf.
"Mr. President, this MAGA movement needs to continue. We need to unite the party, Trump-plus is the way back in 2022," Graham said. "He's ready to hit the trail, and I'm ready to work with him."
Haley told Politico Trump's influence is diminishing.
"I think he's (Trump) going to find himself further and further isolated," Haley said. "I think his business is suffering at this point. I think he's lost any sort of political viability he was going to have. I think he's lost his social media, which meant the world to him. I mean, I think he's lost the things that really could have kept him moving."
During Sunday's appearance on Fox News, Graham took the opposite view.
"Donald Trump is the most vibrant member of the Republican Party. The Trump movement is alive and well," Graham said. "People believe that he brought change to Washington, policy wise, that was long overdue. All I can say is that the most potent force in the Republican Party is President Trump. We need Trump-plus."
Graham has not always been such a strong supporter of Trump. They were bitter rivals when both ran for the Republican nomination in the 2016 presidential primaries.
At that time, Graham even tweeted "If we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed.......and we will deserve it."
Since then South Carolina's senior senator has formed a close bond with Trump, defending the former president in several high-profile moments over the past five years. That includes both times Trump was impeached, as Graham voted against conviction in both instances in which the Senate acquitted Trump.
