Graham: Next president likely to be a 'she'

Whether it's Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, the next president will need to deal with setting aside defense cuts as part of sequestration, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Monday, though he gave an indication as to which gender he expects the 45th commander in chief to be.

“The next president, whoever he or she — most likely she — is going to be, needs to get these defense cuts set aside," Graham remarked during a discussion at the Center for a New American Security's conference.


Graham also took a shot at Trump, his former presidential primary rival, in discussing the spectrum of Republican viewpoints on defense.

"The bottom line: I think there’s a fight within the Republican Party for who we are on foreign policy, from the Rand Paul view to the Lindsey Graham, John McCain view," Graham said. "And Trump’s somewhere out there, somewhere saying something, I don’t know where he’s at. So, so, I think there’s a more traditional view of foreign policy emerging on the Republican side. It’s one of the reasons I wanted to run for president."

Graham has been one of the most vocal critics of Trump's candidacy, most recently urging his fellow Republicans to un-endorse their party's presumptive nominee after his comments attacking a federal judge.

"There will be a desire by all of us to help the next president, whoever he or she may be," Graham said. "And I would advise the next president, if it’s Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, to start — give [Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.)] and me and other people a call about rebuilding the Defense Department, setting aside sequestration. I may be wrong, but I think there’d be a pretty large audience for that.”