WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Sen.
Lindsey Graham, who unsuccessfully sought his party's presidential
nomination, on Thursday called Donald Trump a "nut job" who likely will
win the GOP nod, but lose in November's general election.
"He's
just generally a loser as a person and a candidate," the South Carolina
senator told reporters, adding, "You can't nominate a nut job and lose
and expect it doesn't have consequences."
Asked
whether he'd endorse the billionaire businessman if nominated, Graham
said, "I've got a ticket on the Titanic. So I am like on the team that
bought a ticket on the Titanic after we saw the movie. This is what
happens if you nominate Trump."
"I
think he's going to lose, he's going to lose badly. And I think all the
things that we care about are going to be locked in place, and she's
going to get to pick Supreme Court nominees," he said of Hillary
Clinton, the Democratic front-runner.
He added that Clinton also
would protect President Barack Obama's health care law, block the
Keystone XL pipeline and ensure federal funds for Planned Parenthood.
Speaking
again of Trump, Graham said: "He's ill-suited for the job. What
Hispanic person would vote for the Republican Party when the leader of
the party has just called illegal immigrants as a group mostly rapists
and drug dealers, and is going to deport 11 million people including
American-born children? Everybody in the Hispanic community knows at
least one illegal immigrant, like I do."
Trump and Graham have engaged in name-calling in the past, and last year, Trump gave out Graham's private cell phone number.