Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told Democrats during a Judiciary Committee meeting on Thursday that he believes Democratic nominee Joe Biden has a “good chance” of winning the November election.
Graham’s comments came as he was responding to Democratic criticism of the Republican process for moving Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court nomination. Republicans set up a committee vote on her nomination for next week, and the full Senate is expected to hold a vote on her by the end of the month.
“Democrats generally look at people of a disposition like Justice [Sonia] Sotomayor and [Elena] Kagan. Now, y’all have a good chance of winning the White House. I don’t know where the polls are going to be,” said Graham, the Judiciary panel chairman.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) cut in to say, “Thank you for acknowledging that.”
Graham replied, “I think it’s true.”
The South Carolina Republican, who is facing a tough reelection bid, has aligned himself closely with President Trump since he won the White House in 2016.
But his comments come as Trump has trailed Biden both nationally and in several key battleground states. Biden has led Trump nationally by an average of 10 points, according to The New York Times.
He’s also, based on an average of recent polling, currently leading Trump in multiple swing states, including New Hampshire, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Florida.
Trump has repeatedly rejected such polling, saying he expects to cruise to victory on Nov. 3.