Sen. Lindsey Graham is no fan of Ted Cruz, but he'd prefer him over Donald Trump as the Republican Party's nominee. | AP Photo Graham dislikes Cruz less than he dislikes Trump

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham promised to “try not to cuss” Sunday morning on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” but the outspoken Republican held his tongue about little else on his party’s future.

Asked by panelist David Brooks of The New York Times to outline Ted Cruz’s accomplishments in the Senate, Graham answered that the Texas senator “basically made most people in the party believe that the reason we don’t repeal Obamacare is because of me and Mitch McConnell.”


Still, forced to choose between Cruz and GOP front-runner Donald Trump, Graham was clear that the Texas firebrand is his pick, if only because Cruz checks the “conservative” box.

“Ted is a conservative. He’s more ideological than I am, but he is a Republican conservative and Donald Trump is not,” Graham said. “If I had to support Ted Cruz over Donald Trump, I would because I think he is a Republican conservative, and he might could beat Hillary Clinton.”

Prompted to reflect on his party’s chances in November, Graham painted a bleak picture.

“Some hope with Ted, no hope with The Donald,” said Graham, a Jeb Bush endorser who now backs Sen. Marco Rubio. “We’re in a demographic death spiral. What did we learn in 2012? Hispanics don’t like our message on immigration of self-deportation. I don’t think they’re going to like forced-deportation better. At the end of the day, Donald Trump has taken every problem we’ve had with Hispanics and young women and made them worse.

“If Donald Trump’s the nominee, the Republican Party will get killed, will get creamed; we’ll lose, we’ll deserve it,” Graham said.