Lindsey Graham: We should have booted Trump from GOP

Failed presidential candidate Sen. Lindsey Graham, who dropped his bid for the White House in December, sent a harsh message Donald Trump's way, saying the Republican primary front-runner should have been booted from the party years ago.

He made the remarks in context of discussing with CNN's Wolf Blitzer the billionaire's rhetoric toward illegal immigrants.

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"He took our [party's] problems in 2012 with Hispanics and made them far worse by espousing forced deportation," Graham said, Politico reported. "Looking back, we should have basically kicked him out of the party."

Blitzer asked how Graham might have accomplished such a deed, and the senator said: Republicans could have united to press him to quiet his politics.

"The more you know about Donald Trump," Graham said, "the less likely you are to vote for him. The more you know about his business enterprises, the less successful he looks. The more you know about his political giving, the less Republican he looks. We should have done this months ago."

Graham also said the party's work toward outing Trump as less-than-a-Republican has been working, and voters are starting to rethink their support of him.

"I think this whole assault on his credentials of being a successful businessman and being a true Republican conservative is beginning to work," he said, Politico reported.

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Polls would suggest otherwise, however. Trump has maintained his front-runner status in most all national and state polls for months.

But to Graham, the bigger picture is the state of the Republican Party, not just this election.

"This is not about who we nominate anymore as Republicans as much as it's who we are," Graham said. "This is a fight for the heart and soul of the Republican Party. What is conservatism? If it's Donald Trump carrying the conservative banner, I think not only do we lose the election, but we'll be unable in the future to grow the conservative cause."

He added: "As much as I disagree with [Sen.] Ted Cruz, if it came down to Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, I would be firmly in Ted's camp because I think he really is a conservative."

Trump, in a tweet, responded to Graham's initial call for voters to support Cruz with this: "Failed presidential candidate Lindsey Graham should respect me. I destroyed his run, brought him from 7% to 0% when he got out. Now nasty!"