Lindsey Graham didn’t quite nail a joke about President Donald Trump serving a third—and unconstitutional—third term in office.
The South Carolina senator, who a decade ago told Trump to “go to hell,” continued his full-throated embrace of the administration’s MAGA makeovers.
“Look forward to hearing from 48—whoops 47—about who will be this year’s Trump/Kennedy Center honorees,” Graham wrote on X in response to the president teasing his honorees for the performing arts institution he has taken over.
“I can’t wait to find out who these great Americans are,” he added. “I’m all-in trying to help President @realDonaldTrump structurally and aesthetically improve one of the greatest gems of American culture.”
Trump has floated the possibility of having the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts bear his name instead, and a GOP bill proposing that change was introduced in the House last month.
The president has also repeatedly mentioned serving a third term—an unconstitutional move, but one for which another GOP House bill provides a convenient workaround.
Yet in Graham’s attempt to parrot Trump’s style by “mistakenly” referring to him as the 48th president, he forgot one simple fact: Trump was the 45th and is now the 47th president, meaning whoever is inaugurated as the 48th commander-in-chief will, by definition, be a different person.
Graham’s office didn’t immediately respond to the Daily Beast asking if he was aware of his mistake, or if he supported Rep. Andy Ogles’ resolution enabling a third term.
When asked by a reporter in March whether Trump “can run for a third term,” Graham kicked the can down the road.
“Ask me in ’27,” he said.
