Graham told Trump he ‘f’d up’ his presidency: book

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) reportedly told former President Trump “you f’d up your presidency” earlier this year when attempting to advise him to accept that he lost the 2020 presidential election.

This apparent bit of hard truth from the South Carolina Republican was shared on Sunday by renowned Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward while he was discussing his new book, “Peril,” on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Host Chuck Todd asked Woodward and co-author and fellow Post reporter Robert Costa how they would characterize the attitude Graham and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows had toward Trump’s refusal to accept the election results.

“We quote conversations between Sen. Graham and Trump in which Lindsey Graham says to Trump ‘you f’d up your presidency’ at one point just a couple of months ago,” Woodward said.

Woodward added that Trump hung up on Graham and then called him back a day later, at which point Graham said to Trump, “I would have hung up too.”

“The core conclusion that Graham has is you lost a close election. Face it,” said Woodward.

Graham to Trump: “You f’ed up your presidency”

Washington Post Associate Editor Bob Woodward discusses his latest book on Pres. Trump’s final days in office, in an exclusive interview with Meet The Press. https://t.co/5x5JN280Oj pic.twitter.com/A4lMeI6ZQQ

— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) September 26, 2021

The Hill has reached out to Graham’s office for comment.

Todd asked Costa if Trump believes he lost the election, noting that the authors quoted Trump as saying that if he does not continue fighting the election results, then he will lose his base of supporters.

“I’ve learned covering President Trump and covering politics, it doesn’t really matter sometimes what people think — it’s what they do — and to assume nothing,” Costa said.

“In 2015, a lot of people said Donald Trump won’t run. He’ll never win once he announced in 2016. Well, he won and lost in 2020. He wants power back, our reporting in the book shows,” Costa continued. “He’s out there with this Churchillian-type language — ‘We’ll never surrender. We’ll never give in’ — whipping up thousands of people across the country.”

Updated on Sept. 27 at 7:42 a.m.