Lindsey Graham Predicts 51 or 52 GOP Senate Seats While Expressing Disappointment About Midterms

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., expressed disappointment Tuesday night at the lack of Republican wins in the midterm elections. 

“Definitely not a Republican wave, that is for darn sure,” Graham said in an interview on NBC News. “I think that we are going to be at 51,52 when it is all is said and done in the Senate.”

NBC anchor Lester Holt asked whether the Republican Party’s mediocre performance in the midterm was a result of the “Donald Trump effect,” meaning association with the former president may have hurt Republican candidates. 

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Graham responded “not really,” still suggesting that the midterm was a “referendum on Biden,” adding “If we take back the House, and we get the Senate majority, that is a very good night. A wave would have been New Hampshire and Colorado.”

Graham offered an optimistic take that the Republican Party would still take back power, even if by a narrow margin, and force President Biden to the negotiating table.

“But at the end of the day, guys, if we take the House and the Senate, we are going to have to sit down as a country and figure out to do with it,” he said. “Some unsolicited advice for President Biden, If we do take the House, and we do take the Senate, let’s all go to the border and see if we can find a way to fix it.”

Senator Lindsey Graham appears on an NBC interview.
(NBC screenshot)

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Graham also hinted at an upcoming bill to regulate social media companies with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.

“If it is a divided government, maybe some good can come of it,” he said. 

When asked about 2024, Graham suggested that Democrats do not have a viable alternative candidate to offer in lieu of Biden.

“You know, I don’t know. It depends on what happens tonight. If Biden doesn’t run, who do you replace him with?” he asked. 

The U.S. Capitol Building is seen on Sept. 27, 2022 in Washington, D.C. Later that day, the U.S. Senate held a procedural vote for legislation to provide short-term government funding. 
(Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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He added, “That is their problem, not ours. We have got plenty of problems. But I think that tonight is going to be a very good night for Republicans if we take the House by a governing majority. Y’all made a good point, I said 25 house seats and 52 Senate seats. I think we are going to be short of 25, and maybe at 51. So it is not a wave for sure, but I think it will be a very good night.”