Former President Donald Trump and close personal ally Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) are at loggerheads over fixing Biden’s southern border catastrophe. 

The lawmaker said Sunday that the 2024 Republican frontrunner is mistaken in his desire to wait until reelection to repair the damage. “With all due respect, we can’t wait,” Graham told CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “It’s a national security nightmare.” 

Lindsey Graham clashes with Trump on southern border: “With all due respect, we cannot wait:https://t.co/TwdEKunYdN pic.twitter.com/BoYtkj3op5

— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) February 18, 2024

While that is true, Trump is right in that no fix is preferable to the mess the Biden White House seeks to institutionalize with the border bill. Legalizing millions crossing into the U.S. every single year is hardly a solution to stemming the current invasion. 

Further, the administration seeks to blackmail Congress by tying the measure to aid for Israel and Ukraine.

Graham turned his back on the contentious Senate border bill touted by Democrats as an election year fix for the crisis. He suggested a scaled back package with a different approach to immigration might be in the works, and there is currently momentum in that direction. 

As for Trump and his ardent supporters, they believe the best course of action is to ensure his election and enable him to forcefully confront the invasion. 

This did not satisfy Graham. The senator said, “I don’t want to wait. I want to act now on the border.” 

On Sunday, the South Carolina Republican suggested he would consider supporting a House-led proposal that would accomplish many of the same goals. It would include funding for Israel and Ukraine and certainly have stronger border provisions than the weak offering from the Senate.

Graham said the House proposal, depending on its wording, “makes perfect sense to me.” 

He predicted that six to eight Republicans would be enticed into the fold due to their desire to aid Ukraine. These lawmakers, he said, believed the so-called bipartisan border bill “was not sufficient enough.”

Graham explained his “no” vote was due to inadequate provisions for border security.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) quickly put the brakes on the Senate border bill last week when he called it “dead on arrival” in the lower chamber. It was finally unveiled after much secrecy, and the details dismayed conservatives.

The product of the Democratic-controlled Senate would have entrenched millions of illegals crossing the border every year, something unacceptable to those charged with safeguarding national security.