Lindsey Graham argues Americans will vote on 'their problems,' not Donald Trump's criminal cases

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on Sunday argued that Americans will not cast their ballots this fall based on Donald Trump's criminal charges as the former president faces an unprecedented trial in New York.

On CNN’s "State of the Union," Graham railed against the indictments against the former president, claiming that most Americans are less concerned about Trump's four separate criminal cases at the state and federal level than the challenges facing the nation as a whole.

"Most Americans are not going to decide how to vote based on Trump's legal troubles, but the troubles they face – inflation, crime, or a broken border... People are looking at their problems, not Trump's legal problems."

Approximately one-third of adults in the U.S. say the former president did something illegal related to his hush money case that began earlier this month in New York, according to polling from the Associated Press and NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Fifty percent of Americans in the poll said they would not consider Trump fit to be president if he's convicted in the ongoing trial.

Much of that trial's second week hinged on the testimony of David Pecker, the former head of the National Inquirer tabloid's parent company. Over the course of four days, Pecker recounted how he engaged in a practice known as "catch and kill," where he would acquire that rights to a damaging story about Trump and prevent it from going to print. He admitted on the stand that this was done to help Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.

The most infamous examples of that scheme are the hush money payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model. Both women were allegedly paid for the rights to their stories about their dealings with Trump in the weeks leading up to the 2016 election.

Trump is not necessarily charged with making hush money payments. He's facing 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide a $130,000 payment to silence Daniels.

During Graham’s interview, CNN's Dana Bash asked him if he had any concerns about Pecker’s practice of catching and killing negative stories related to Trump.

"You know, apparently a lot of people do this. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tiger Woods. No, I think the whole thing is a crock… They created a crime just for Trump,” Graham said.

Graham argued that the eight-year-old case already passed the statute of limitations, so “[New York District Attorney] Alvin Bragg took a case that was rejected by the federal government to resurrect these misdemeanors. I think it's a political hit job on Trump six months before the election.”

"Obviously Tiger Woods is not running for president,” Bash pointed out.

"Yeah, no, I got it, Graham laughed.

There is no evidence that prosecutors or other officials have used criminal cases against Trump to target his reelection bid.

Graham's defense of the former president comes after the two Republicans have recently split over abortion restrictions.

After Trump said he believes states should decide individual abortion politics, refusing to back a national abortion ban, Graham told reporters he disagreed with the former president.

"People like Lindsey Graham, that are unrelenting, are handing Democrats their dream of the House, Senate, and perhaps even the presidency," Trump shot back at the South Carolina Republican.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Graham: Americans will vote on 'their problems,' not Trump's trials