Graham says Harris will ‘be a force to be reckoned with’

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Sen. Kamala Harris will be “a force to be reckoned with” following her performance in the first Democratic debate this week. 

“She’s got game. She is very talented. She’s very smart, and she’ll be a force to be reckoned with,” Graham said according to a video posted online Saturday by CBS’s Face the Nation. 

Graham also said that former Vice President Joe Biden, who Harris criticized for his comments about working with segregationist senators, should “up his game.” {mosads}

“The narrative is that maybe it’s not his time and that he’s not up to the task,” he said, but added, “I think you’ll underestimate Joe Biden at your own peril.” 

“I think the next debate he’s got to change the narrative,” Graham said. 

Graham also criticized the policies presented by leading candidates during the debate, which he characterized as “pretty liberal, pretty extreme.”

Harris on Thursday night criticized Biden, the current frontrunner, for saying that there was “civility” when he worked with segregationist Sens. James Eastland (D-Miss.) and Herman Talmadge (D-Ga.) in the 1970s. She also accused him of opposing busing black students into predominately white schools. 

“But I also believe, and it’s personal and I was actually very — it was hurtful to hear you talk about the reputations of two United States senators who built their reputations and career on the segregation of race in this country,” she said Thursday night. 

Biden responded that Harris “mischaracterized my position across the board.” 

Biden and Harris are among the more than two dozen people vying for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.