Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told Fox News on Sunday morning that the biggest winner to come out of former President Trump’s second impeachment trial, where he was acquitted for incitement of insurrection, was his own daughter-in-law, Lara Trump.
“North Carolina, the biggest winner I think of this whole impeachment trial, is Lara Trump,” Graham told Fox News host Chris Wallace. “My dear friend Richard Burr, who I like and have been friends to a long time, just made Lara Trump almost the certain nominee for the Senate seat in North Carolina to replace him if she runs.”
“I certainly will be behind her because I think she represents the future of the Republican Party,” added Graham.
Burr, who will not be seeking re-election as North Carolina’s senior senator in 2022, was one of seven Republican senators to vote “guilty” in the impeachment trial on Saturday. Notably, Burr did so despite his own belief that holding the impeachment trial was unconstitutional because Trump was no longer in office.
“When this process started, I believed that it was unconstitutional to impeach a president who was no longer in office. I still believe that to be the case. However, the Senate is an institution based on precedent, and given that the majority in the Senate voted to proceed with this trial, the question of constitutionality is now established precedent. As an impartial juror, my role is now to determine whether House managers have sufficiently made the case for the article of impeachment against President Trump,” said Burr.
“The evidence is compelling that President Trump is guilty of inciting an insurrection against a coequal branch of government and that the charge rises to the level of high Crimes and Misdemeanors. Therefore, I have voted to convict,” he said.
Lara Trump, on the other hand, has reportedly been weighing a Senate run since at least November of last year.
Back in November, both The New York Times and Politico reported that Lara Trump, 38, was weighing a possible Senate run in North Carolina, where she was raised and attended college. During the 2020 presidential election, Lara Trump served as an advisor to the president’s re-election campaign and traveled to the state on his behalf.
“She would be formidable,” Kellyanne Conway, former counselor to Donald Trump, told the Times of Lara Trump running for Senate in North Carolina. “She has the trifecta: She can raise money, raise awareness of key issues, and raise attention to her race. Unlike many typical politicians, she connects with people and is a compelling messenger.”
“She’s very charismatic, she understands retail politics well, and has a natural instinct for politics,” said Mercedes Schlapp, an adviser to Trump’s 2020 campaign. “In North Carolina, in particular, she’s a household name and people know her. She worked really hard on the campaign and was very involved in a lot of decisions throughout.”