Appearing as a guest on CNN's Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield to report on South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham's departure from the GOP presidential race, CNN's Kate Bolduan oddly claimed that the low-polling candidate's debate performances were "really widely, you know, seen as winners," inspiring agreement from host Banfield.
After forwarding Senator Graham's blaming of his low poll numbers on being excluded from the top-tier debates, the two CNN personalities then played up the "importance of a Lindsey Graham endorsement," and Banfield even ended up musing over the possibility of Graham serving in a Hillary Clinton administration.
At 12:26 p.m., Bolduan introduced her interview with Senator Graham as she began:
He said in no uncertain terms he didn't see a path forward. He'd seen he had hit the wall. He was never able to break through above the bottom tier in the debates. And that debate structure is at least in part what he blames for why he could never break through.
After Banfield asked if the South Carolina Republican viewed the last debate as a "Hail Mary" for him, Bolduan and Banfield lauded his debate performances:
KATE BOLDUAN: He had thought in all the previous debates that the traction that he had made -- because all of his debate performances were really widely, you know, seen as winners.
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD: Yeah.
BOLDUAN: Especially in this last one. But still you see in this Fox News poll that came out all after the debate, it didn't make any difference. And he blames that structure, the two-tiered system at least in part for why he was never able to break through.
After airing pre-recorded clips of Bolduan's interview with the South Carolina Senator, Banfield began wondering about whom he will endorse:
Obviously there are so many questions that come in the wake of a candidate walking away. All of it. And what now? Who gets your voters, even though there are very few of them at this point polling? Who's he going to endorse? Because he's very credible. And will he stand behind Donald Trump if he's the nominee?
Bolduan then hyped the importance of a Graham endorsement:
Look, the endorsement question is a huge question, and kind of the reaction that I've been getting is the importance of a Lindsey Graham endorsement maybe outweighs the support you saw in the polls because it comes back to his credibility on national security. And that's something he's very proud of, where he says he thinks he really moved the conversation towards a more robust foreign policy discussion by entering this race. That's one of the things he thinks.
Wrapping up the segment, Banfield wondered about the possibility of Senator Graham as Defense Secretary for a President Hillary Clinton, declaring it a "fascinating" idea. Banfield:
I'd be fascinated to find out what he would think if Hillary Clinton became President, would he serve in her Cabinet, because we've had lots of crossover Secretaries of Defense, etc., so that would be a fascinating mix.
Below is a transcript of relevant portions of the segment from the Monday, December 21, Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield on CNN:
12:26 p.m.
KATE BOLDUAN: He said in no uncertain terms he didn't see a path forward. He'd seen he had hit the wall. He was never able to break through above the bottom tier in the debates. And that debate structure is at least in part what he blames for why he could never break through.
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD: Was the debate a Hail Mary, though? Did he think he could actually make it? If he could make traction at that debate he wouldn't have to do this?
BOLDUAN: He had thought in all the previous debates that the traction that he had made -- because all of his debate performances were really widely, you know, seen as winners.
BANFIELD: Yeah.
BOLDUAN: Especially in this last one. But still you see in this Fox News poll that came out all after the debate, it didn't make any difference. And he blames that structure, the two-tiered system at least in part for why he was never able to break through.
[LINDSEY GRAHAM]
BANFIELD: Obviously there are so many questions that come in the wake of a candidate walking away.
BOLDUAN Yeah, the sort of post-mortum that occurs.
BANFIELD: All of it. And what now? Who gets your voters, even though there are very few of them at this point polling? Who's he going to endorse? Because he's very credible.
BOLDUAN: Right.
BANFIELD: And will he stand behind Donald Trump if he's the nominee?
BOLDUAN: Look, the endorsement question is a huge question, and kind of the reaction that I've been getting is the importance of a Lindsey Graham endorsement maybe outweighs the support you saw in the polls because it comes back to his credibility on national security. And that's something he's very proud of, where he says he thinks he really moved the conversation towards a more robust foreign policy discussion by entering this race. That's one of the things he thinks.
When I asked him if, who he will endorse, if he will endorse, he said that he's not ready to endorse anyone. And I think, honestly, it became pretty clear in the interview he's still chewing it over. He did make clear, though, he, whichever candidate he would endorse, it would have to be the best candidate in his view to be commander-in-chief.
That's probably not surprising. What is interesting is he also added to me that it is also someone who can win. And that's something that he's clearly chewing over. On the Donald Trump question, I asked him very clearly, would he, if it came down to Donald Trump versus Hillary Clinton, "Who would you support?" and he said, "I will support the Republican nominee. I cannot have it both ways." Which is going further than Jeb Bush has not been ready to say that.
BANFIELD: I'd be fascinated to find out what he would think if Hillary Clinton became President, would he serve in her Cabinet, because we've had lots of crossover Secretaries of Defense, etc., so that would be a fascinating mix.
BOLDUAN: I wouldn't be surprised, yeah.
BANFIELD: Good job, Kate. Nice little Christmas present for you.
