‘Hats Off to the Democrats’: Lindsey Graham Begrudgingly Acknowledges Red Wave Didn’t Happen, Offers Biden Some Unsolicited Advice

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) acknowledged a red wave did not materialize on election night as Republicans had hope in a downbeat interview with NBC News as results were coming in.

“Let’s talk about New Hampshire, because here’s here’s one where Republicans were feeling kind of good recently. But you do have General Bolduc, who it was controversial election denier from that wing of the party. Well, how are you reading these tea leaves?” Savannah Guthrie asked Graham.

“If you run that far behind your governor, kind of that you probably made a mistake. So. You know, General Bolduc served his country well, but, you know, Sununu won big, Bolduc, you know, wouldn’t talk about what we should have done, I guess, but definitely not a Republican wave, that’s for darn sure. I was in charge of Guam, so I want to take credit for that,” Graham joked.

“Congratulations,” Guthrie replied.

“Guam, which I thought was big in 1993, last time we were gone. Guam, I think you know, I think we’re going to be at 51, 52 when it’s all said and done, the Senate,” Graham predicted.

“Well, let’s talk about the Donald Trump effect. There been a couple of conversations around this table as it’s become apparent there’s not going to be a wave here. And the question of whether his appearances along the way have actually hurt Republicans. Do you give that any credence?” Lester Holt asked Graham.

“You know, not really. I think it was a referendum on Biden. You know, if we take back the House and we get the Senate majority, that’s a very good night. A wave would have been like New Hampshire and Colorado,” Graham replied.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) stuck a similar tone on the election while discussing the results on his podcast, saying, “It hasn’t been as big of a wave as I’d hoped it would be. We’ve had some close races go the other way so far.”

“So, you know, you got to hats off to the Democrats. They performed well in a lot of these swing districts. You know, a couple of days from now, we’ll know better,” Graham continued, adding:

But at the end of the day, guys, if we take the House in the Senate, we’re going to have to sit down as a country and figure out what to do with it.

Some unsolicited advice to President Biden. If we do take the House and we do take the Senate. Let’s all go to the border and see if we can find a way to fix it. I’ve got to a bill with Elizabeth Warren, believe it or not, to regulate social media and maybe we could do something in the energy and the energy space. So if it’s a divided government, maybe something good can come of it.

Watch the full clip above via NBC News