Former Republican presidential candidate Sen. Lindsey Graham appeared on Trevor Noah’s The Daily Show on Wednesday evening to caution the South African native he could face deportation in the event of a Donald Trump presidency.
After telling Noah that he is only supporting Sen. Ted Cruz because “he’s not Trump,” Graham said he doubted his party’s chances against Hillary Clinton in a general election and accused Trump of running a campaign of hate.
“If Donald Trump carries the banner of my party, I think it taints conservatism for generations to come,” Graham said. “I think his campaign is opportunistic, race-bating, religious bigotry, xenophobia, other than that, he’d be a good nominee.”
Noah asked: “Do the voters not know … this is a party that supports xenophobia and bigotry and all of those things?”
Graham responded, “35 percent of my party believes that Obama is a Muslim born in Kenya … 65 percent of us just think he is a bad president.”
The South Carolina senator then asked Noah if he had a “green card?”
“If I were you I’d be in a hurry,” he said. “If Trump wins, your days are numbered, pal. Young black liberal guy from Africa is not going to work with him.”
Noah then aired a clip of Graham being asked in January whether he preferred Cruz or Trump as the nominee during a news conference on Capitol Hill.
“It’s like being shot or poisoned, what does it really matter?” Graham said.
Graham explained the comment, telling The Daily Show host, “Donald is like being shot in the head.”
On Cruz being the “poison,” the senator said, “You might find an antidote to the poisoning — I don’t know, but maybe there’s time.”
Graham later described the Republican Party as “completely screwed up.”
Trump responded to Graham’s comments on Twitter on Thursday morning: It is amazing how @LindseyGrahamSC gets on so many T.V. shows talking negatively about me when I beat him so badly (ZERO) in his pres run!”
Graham suspended his presidential bid back in December after failing to gain any momentum, even in his home state.
Trump went on to win South Carolina with 32.5 percent of the vote when competing against five other opponents.
Graham initially endorsed former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, before finally settling on Cruz after Bush exited the race last month.
Reluctantly admitting to Noah on Wednesday that he was on the “Cruz train,” Graham said, “I started with 17 cars, I’m down to three.”
“I don’t dislike Ted. Ted and I have a lot of differences,” Graham added. “He was my 15th choice. What can I say?”
Graham also said he believes Cruz is “not completely crazy.”
Watch the full segment below:
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