Lindsey Graham says 'Donald Trump the provocateur' could lose election, urges him to focus on policies

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he thinks former President Donald Trump has a real shot at winning the 2024 presidential election, but he needs to focus less on personal attacks against Vice President Kamala Harris and more on policies impacting the American people.

“If you have a policy debate, he wins. Donald Trump the provocateur, the showman, may not win this election," Graham, a staunch supporter of the former president, said on NBC's "Meet The Press" on Sunday morning.

Graham isn't the only prominent Republican encouraging the Trump campaign to focus more on policy, particularly the economy and inflation, especially as Harris makes gains in polls around the country. In a Tuesday interview on Fox News' "Special Report," Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley struck a similar tone to Graham.

"The campaign is not going to win talking about crowd sizes. It's not going to win talking about what race Kamala Harris is. It's not going to win talking about whether she's dumb. I think the campaign needs to focus," Haley, who challenged Trump for the 2024 Republican nomination, said.

Graham pressed for Republicans to make Harris defend her policy stances, calling her the "most liberal person to ever be nominated for president," and alleging that Harris' recently unveiled proposal to combat price gouging for groceries was out of the "Soviet Union playbook."

"A nightmare for Harris is to defend her policy choices," Graham said. "Every day we're not talking about her policy choices and what she would do as president is a good day for her and a bad day for us."

Graham doubled down on the importance of the Trump campaign focusing on tangible, day-to-day issues, such as rising prices for gas, mortgages, and groceries.

"Policy is the key to the White House," Graham said.

Cy Neff reports on Wyoming politics for USA TODAY. You can reach him at [email protected] or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @CyNeffNews

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lindsey Graham says policy focus could help Trump win White House