Left in the cold...

Lindsey Graham on being left out of debates: 'It sucks'

By Nick Gass

It’s looking like Lindsey Graham will not make the cut for the first Republican debate on Aug. 6, and the South Carolina senator is clearly none too pleased with the qualification process based on national polling averages.

In fact, Graham remarked, he’s being excluded for “no good reason,” and “it sucks.”

“I think it sucks,” the South Carolina senator said Thursday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

The Republican National Committee, which endorsed the rules of the separate debates on Fox News and CNN, is “not helpless” to stand by the rules, Graham said, ticking off a series of critical domestic and international policy issues, including the Iran nuclear deal, a potential increase of the federal minimum wage, securing the borders and reforming the immigration system, that are being neglected because of a certain real-estate mogul who recently gave out his cellphone number.

“If my numbers go up just because I call Donald Trump a jackass, that’s not why I want to rise in the polls,” said Graham, who is currently registering at 0 in Real Clear Politics’ national polling average. “The bottom line is, I think the criteria in July of 2015 makes no sense. You’re testing celebrity and name ID.”

Graham’s personal cellphone number became public knowledge on Tuesday after Trump shared it during a speech in South Carolina, telling supporters that their senator was an “idiot” and a “stiff.”

“The only way we’re going to lose this election is to continue to say things like Donald Trump is saying and having people like me respond endlessly,” Graham said. “Donald Trump is a great showman. That’s why all these companies hired him to sell their products. There’s a reason, Joe, that all these companies are firing him, because he’s become toxic as a presidential candidate, and I hope we all understand that on the Republican side.”

“At the end of the day, I hope we move on, because if we don’t, we’re going to blow the last best chance we’ll ever have to win the White House,” he added.