Lindsay Graham has been ridiculed online for his recent deferential statements about Donald Trump.

       The Republican from South Carolina has urged the GOP and party leadership to rally behind the former president, claiming that the 2024 nomination belongs to Mr Trump if he wants it.

       Senator Graham, during an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Wednesday night, was particularly critical of his Senate colleague, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

       “If you want to be a Republican leader in the House or the Senate, you have to have a working relationship with [former] President Donald Trump,” Graham claimed, according to Raw Story.

       Mr McConnell is hoping to maintain his position as the Republican minority leader in the Senate later this year, but according to Mr Graham, that first requires him to make amends with the former President.

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       “He is [Mr Trump] the most consequential Republican since Ronald Reagan. It’s his nomination if he wants it, and I think he’ll get reelected in 2024.”

       “I like Senator McConnell, he worked well with President Trump to get a bunch of judges including three supreme court justices on the bench, they got the tax cuts passed working together.

       “But here’s the question: can Senator McConnell effectively work with the leader the Republican party, Donald Trump?” he added.

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       Senator Graham’s comments are certainly notable, as only last year, he denounced Mr Trump’s conduct in the wake of the 6 January Capitol riot.

       “I’m not gonna vote for anybody that can’t have a working relationship with President Trump, to be a team to come up with an America First agenda, to show the difference between us and liberal Democrats, to prosecute the case for Trump policies … because if you can’t do that, you will fail. I will tell you that,” Mr Graham stated.

       Predictably, his comments attracted plenty of criticism and mockery online. Much of it comes as a result of Senator Graham’s historically hostile attitude towards Mr Trump, whom he once feared would “destroy” the Republican party.

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