While the leading 2016 Republican presidential candidates take their podiums, there is already one clear victor from the earlier “undercard” primary debate held among the lower-polling primary contenders: South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham.
With poll numbers that have consistently hovered around 1 percent so far, the Senate war hawk has always had one thing: a sense of humor. But tonight his jokes hit high notes, earning him applause and laughs that have many calling him that debate’s obvious winner. Indeed, according to Google, Graham was the most searched candidates from the early debate.
In case you missed it, here are the humor highlights of Lindsey Graham’s debate performance tonight:
He expressed his appreciation:
“Thanks CNN for having people at this debate,” the senator said, throwing shade to the last debate’s audience, who did not receive him as warmly.
He admitted he’s no library nerd:
"By the end of this debate [held in the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California] it'd be the most time I'd spent in any library."
He used his famous predecessor to prove a point about legal immigration:
“Strom Thurmond had four kids after age 67. If you're not willing to do that, we need to come up with a new immigration system," he said.
As president, his first act would be enacting his special plan for bipartisanship:
"That’s the first thing I'm going to do as president,” he said. “We’re going to drink more."