Sen. Lindsey Graham on The View: If Trump doesn't call himself a genius, no one will

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham addressed President Trump’s “stable genius” tweets with the women of The View on Monday, yielding an exchange that’s not to be missed.

“On Saturday, Trump called himself, quote, ‘like, really smart’ and a ’stable genius.’ So do you think he’s ‘like, really smart’ and a ‘stable genius’?” co-host Joy Behar asked the politician as the audience giggled.

Graham answered, “I think this: If he doesn’t call himself a ‘genius,’ nobody else will.”

Trump’s “genius” tweets were the president’s response to the book Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House. In it, author Michael Wolff calls Trump’s mental stability into question based on interviews he conducted with the president’s staff. Wolff recently appeared on the TODAY show to clarify that “100 percent of the people around [Trump]” question his intelligence and fitness for office.

In a series of tweets, POTUS claimed that “the Democrats and their lapdogs, the Fake News Mainstream Media, are taking out the old Ronald Reagan playbook and screaming mental stability and intelligence.”

“Actually, throughout my life, my two greatest assets have been mental stability and being, like, really smart,” Trump continued. “Crooked Hillary Clinton also played these cards very hard and, as everyone knows, went down in flames. I went from VERY successful businessman, to top T.V. Star… to President of the United States (on my first try). I think that would qualify as not smart, but genius….and a very stable genius at that!”

In discussing the tweets, Graham recognized on The View that Trump “beat me like a drum” in the 2016 presidential race. “He ran against 17 Republicans and crushed us all,” the senator said. “He ran against the Clinton machine and won. So, all I can say is, you can say anything you want to say about the guy. I said he was a xenophobic, race-baiting, religious bigot. I ran outta things to say. He won. Guess what? He’s our president.”

The hosts pressed Graham further on whether he thought Trump still is “a xenophobic, race-baiting, religious bigot.”

“In my view, he is my president and he’s doing a good job on multiple fronts, again, and I’ll tell you why,” Graham started before his dodging of the question was pointed out by Sunny Hostin. “No, I don’t think he’s a xenophobic, race-baiting, religious bigot — as president,” Graham clarified.

“He’s a kook, but he’s my kook? The people are wondering, what have you been drinking?” Ana Navarro said.

Watch a clip from Graham’s appearance on The View above.