The Real Reason Lindsey Graham Used To Visit Mar-A-Lago

For Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, there are many, many reasons the South Carolina politician could feasibly have for visiting Mar-a-Lago, the private Florida golf club and resort that became Donald Trump's de facto White House after he left the White House in January. (It's also served as his vacation home for years, including during the time he was in office for four years.) Ever since Graham shifted from Trump detractor to Trump loyal, it would make sense if he visited on a political front, for business, meetings, and even on a "peace mission" in order to unite the fractured Republican party, as CNN noted he did in February.

But according to an upcoming book titled "I'll Take Your Questions Now," authored by former White House press secretary (and current Trump naysayer) Stephanie Grisham, Graham's visits to Mar-a-Lago weren't as much for political clout as they were for something much more ostentatious. 

In her book, Stephanie Grisham dedicated a portion of her exposé about the Donald Trump administration to Lindsey Graham, who she painted as an opportunist out for Mar-a-Lago swag. According to Insider, which obtained a copy of the upcoming book, Grisham wrote that "of all the various characters and hangers-on in Trump World, Lindsey was one of the weirder ones." As Grisham saw it, "some days [Graham] would be one of Trump's most vigorous defenders; other days he was a harsh critic ... but Trump seemed to like him whatever reason and I often wondered if he sought Lindsey's approval." 

Trump's favor towards Graham seemed to enable the senator to use "Trump to mop up the freebies like there was no tomorrow" during his visits to Mar-a-Lago and Bedminster, another favored private club of Trump's located in New Jersey. "He would show up at Mar-a-Lago or Bedminster to play free rounds of golf, stuff his face with free food, and hang out with Trump and his celebrity pals," recounted Grisham. According to the former aide, Graham's status as a Trump ally led to bombastic displays of power. "On one occasion, I came across him at Bedminster after he'd kicked out a White House staff member so he could take her room," she wrote, referring to him as "Senator Freeloader" and claiming he "was sitting at a table by the pool, a big grin on his face, lapping up the goodies he was getting."