--- title: Lindsey Graham: Ted Cruz Support Might Stop Donald Trump description: Former presidential candidate Lindsey Graham said Republicans might have to support Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in order to stop Donald Trump canonical: https://time.com/4244223/super-tuesday-donald-trump-ted-cruz-lindsey-graham/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-02T04:45:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:43:52.293Z article:section: Politics og:title: Lindsey Graham Says Ted Cruz Might Be the Only Way to Stop Trump og:description: Lindsey Graham is having a change of heart to stop Donald Trump og:url: https://time.com/4244223/super-tuesday-donald-trump-ted-cruz-lindsey-graham/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd8d7688fbea91359/69887fd80a4a225fa39c89f3/lindsey-graham.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4611 og:image:height: 2594 og:image:alt: Republican Presidential Candidate Jeb Bush Holds Town Hall In Bedford, NH og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Lindsey Graham Says Ted Cruz Might Be the Only Way to Stop Trump twitter:description: Lindsey Graham is having a change of heart to stop Donald Trump twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd8d7688fbea91359/69887fd80a4a225fa39c89f3/lindsey-graham.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # A Senator Who Joked About Killing Ted Cruz Says Republicans Might Have to Rally—Behind Cruz > Sponsored content. 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It is written and edited by TIME journalists, and it is free to join at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=d45b738e-9a59-4c6a-bdaf-4d03c2145896&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1). ### Newsletter facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Publisher | TIME | TIME, August 2026 | | Frequency | Monday to Saturday (3x per week) | TIME, August 2026 | | Subscribers | 85,000 | TIME, August 2026 | | Open rate | 37.0% | TIME, August 2026 | | Written by | Philip Elliott, Senior Correspondent | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | Sign-up | time.com/newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Part of | TIME's seven-newsletter network, 1.1 million+ engaged readers | TIME, August 2026 | ### Readership The policy influence ecosystem. A policy-focused audience spanning government, public affairs, advocacy, law, research, political media, and the institutions that make, interpret and respond to public policy. ### TIME D.C. Brief: key statements * D.C. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Mar 2, 2016 4:45 AM UTC  Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) campaigns for Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush at a town hall style meeting on Feb. 6. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) campaigns for Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush at a town hall style meeting on Feb. 6.Matthew Cavanaugh/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Mar 2, 2016 4:45 AM UTC Former presidential candidate and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said Tuesday [Republicans might have to support Texas Sen. Ted Cruz](http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/271439-graham-gop-may-have-to-rally-around-ted-cruz) in order to [stop Donald Trump](http://time.com/4244074/never-donald-trump-movement-super-tuesday/) from winning the nomination—just days after he [joked about killing Cruz](http://time.com/4238930/lindsey-graham-republicans-bats-crazy/) on the floor of the Senate. “Ted Cruz is not my favorite by any means, and I don’t wish him ill—I was making a joke about Ted—but we may be in a position where we have to rally around Ted Cruz as the only way to stop Donald Trump, and I’m not so sure that would work,” Graham told CBS, as Trump solidified his position as frontrunner with a string of Super Tuesday victories. Asked to confirm if he would rather support Cruz than see a Trump nomination, Graham laughed. “I can’t believe I would say yes, but yes,” he said. Cruz is widely disliked by his Senate colleagues, none of whom have endorsed his candidacy.  ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4244223/super-tuesday-donald-trump-ted-cruz-lindsey-graham/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4244223/super-tuesday-donald-trump-ted-cruz-lindsey-graham/"},"headline":"A Senator Who Joked About Killing Ted Cruz Says Republicans Might Have to Rally—Behind Cruz","datePublished":"2016-03-02T04:45:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:43:52.293Z","description":"Lindsey Graham is having a change of heart to stop Donald Trump","url":"https://time.com/4244223/super-tuesday-donald-trump-ted-cruz-lindsey-graham/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd8d7688fbea91359/69887fd80a4a225fa39c89f3/lindsey-graham.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd8d7688fbea91359/69887fd80a4a225fa39c89f3/lindsey-graham.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Republican Presidential Candidate Jeb Bush Holds Town Hall In Bedford, NH","caption":"Republican Presidential Candidate Jeb Bush Holds Town Hall In Bedford, NH","creditText":"Matthew Cavanaugh/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4244223/super-tuesday-donald-trump-ted-cruz-lindsey-graham/","name":"A Senator Who Joked About Killing Ted Cruz Says Republicans Might Have to Rally—Behind Cruz"}}]}] ```