Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) could only laugh when asked about Donald Trump saying that people won’t have “to vote again” if they help get him back in office this November.
Many wondered if the former president was suggesting something tyrannical when he told rally-goers at an event in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Saturday that they wouldn’t have to worry about casting ballots in 2028 if they supported him this election cycle.
“Christians, get out and vote, just this time,” he said. “You won’t have to do it anymore.”
“You got to get out and vote. In four years, you don’t have to vote again,” he added. “We’ll have it fixed so good you’re not going to have to vote.”
The comments raised alarm for Trump critics, who worried he was hinting at an end to elections as they’re normally done if he wins a second term as president.
But Graham gleefully downplayed the remarks after being asked if Trump was threatening to “take the reigns of the entire democratic system” during an appearance on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday.
“He’s trying to tell the Christian community and anybody else who’s listening [that] the nightmare that we’re experiencing will soon be over. Give me four more years, and I’m going to right this ship called America and pass it on to the next generation,” the South Carolina senator explained.
“We will have democracy, god willing, for a very long time in this country, but what President Trump is trying to tell people — ‘I did it once, I can do it again. These problems can be solved, but you got to go in a different direction,’” Graham continued.
The interview then wrapped without any follow-up questions from moderator Robert Costa.
Graham wasn’t the only conservative who brushed off Trump’s remarks on Sunday.
Gov. Chris Sununu (R-N.H.) called the comment “classic Trumpism” in an interview on ABC’s “This Week,” while Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) told CNN’s “State of the Union” that the Republican nominee for president was “obviously making a joke.”
Although Trump’s allies tried to paint his words as harmless, he has openly flirted with the idea of authoritarianism in the past.
Last December, he vowed not to be a “dictator” if reelected, except for “day one” of a new presidency.