The architect of Project 2025 trashed Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Wednesday.
Paul Dans, a lawyer and conservative political operative, joined Kaitlan Collins on CNN’s “The Source with Kaitlan Collins” to discuss his primary challenge against Graham. Dans described Graham as a war hawk who would rather send other people’s children to war than pay down the national debt. Dans also said Graham was not loyal enough to President Donald Trump.
“He was the rat that helped Joe Biden get things done,” Dans said. “He’s always been the intermediary. He loaded the judiciary with Biden’s picks, and they’re the very ones stopping the Trump agenda.”
Graham responded to Dans’s challenge in a statement to Collins. He said Dans had “parachuted” into South Carolina for the race.
“Like everything Paul Dans starts, this too will end prematurely,” Graham said.
Dans’s primary challenge against Graham comes at a time when the GOP is beginning to imagine a future for the party that does not involve Trump. Trump is term-limited as president, although he could remain active in politics when he leaves the White House.
Some Republicans like Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Thomas Massie (R-KY) appear to be deliberating what their future could look like without Trump. Both lawmakers have publicly broken with the president over releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files, and Massie voted against the final version of Trump’s domestic spending bill.