Sen. Lindsey Graham on Saturday took his case for a more diverse, open-tent Republican Party to a tough venue -- the South Carolina Republican Party convention. And the reaction to his message wasn't entirely unsurprising.
In a "fiery speech that drew jeers from the crowd," The State newspaper reported, "Graham told the crowd there was nothing wrong with any conservative, and he wanted to build an open party that could win in Pennsylvania and Connecticut, as well as South Carolina."
"You're a hypocrite!" one man yelled.
"I'm a winner, pal," Graham shot back. "Winning matters to me. If it doesn't matter to you, there's the exit sign."
"Ron Paul is not the leader of this party," Graham said, prompting a few jeers. Some people yelled, "Yes, he is!"
"I'm not going to give this party over to people who can't win," Graham finished, drawing most of the crowd to its feet.
According to The State, fellow South Carolina Republican Sen. Jim DeMint (who is far more beloved by conservatives in the state than Graham) claimed that he'd "rather have 30 senators who stand on principle than 60 who have none."
Here's a short video of one particularly heated exchange involving Graham. A longer video of Graham's speech is below.
Our 2024 Coverage Needs You
Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.