US Senate(WASHINGTON) — What will bachelor Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., do if he’s elected president in 2016 without a first lady?
“I’ve got a lot of friends,” the Republican presidential hopeful joked in an exclusive interview with the UK news outlet Daily Mail Online. “We’ll have a rotating first lady.”
It’s the first time the war hawkish South Carolina senator acknowledged his marital status since he began contemplating a run for the White House in 2016. Officially declaring his candidacy on June 1, interest in Graham’s bachelordom and what its impact might be on his candidacy spiked.
Some spoke out against floating such questions, saying the deeply personal question was unfair and perhaps off-limits to ask at this early stage in the election cycle.
But Graham’s interview Tuesday showed he has no plans of shying away from the matter. In fact, making light of the question assisted Graham in an argument he presented during the interview: He’s fun.
“I’m actually a fun guy. I’m a lot of fun to hang around with. Just ask people who know me,” Graham told Daily Mail Online in response to a question about his personal hobbies. According to their story, Graham advised moments after, “Just ask my Senate colleagues…I think I’ve got a pretty good reputation of bein’ easygoing.”
“I’m a social kind of guy,” Graham declared.
“If I get to be in the White House, I’ll bring Members of Congress and their families down. We”ll interact like Ronald Reagan did, we’ll have a lot of chance to get to know each other.” He added, “I think one of the biggest mistakes President Obama made was being a little too distant.”
In the interview, Graham said a favorite escape of his from the Washington beltway hustle and bustle is going to the movie theater. “Cause you’re sittin’ in the dark and nobody’s botherin’ ya,” he explained.
On what would be a first lady-less White House were he to win the presidency, Graham joked, “I’ve got a lot of friends. We’ll have a rotating first lady.”
As far as movies and music go, Graham has a taste for the classics. “Casablanca is like one of my favorite movies of all time.” On his tune preferences, Graham later added, “I’m stuck in the 60s and early 70s, I’m a Motown guy.”
Despite having embarked on a road filled with tasty temptations, Graham said the carbs hidden “around every corner in the campaign world” haven’t hit him too hard just yet.
“I’m in OK shape, I used to be in pretty good shape…I’m low-carbin’ it,” he said.
It’s a hard lifestyle to maintain, he said, labeling Iowa “the carb city of the world.”
Noting that the early caucus state is also home to a lot of meat, Graham said, “I should be the pork association’s man of the year. I’ve eaten enough bacon to sink a battleship!”
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