South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham to endorse Jeb Bush

Graham, who has been a sharp Trump critic, said Bush’s bid to woo Latino voters was also critical in widening the reach of the Republican Party, which has not won the presidency since Bush’s brother, George W. Bush, was reelected in 2004.

Bush is now averaging about 5.4 percent of the vote for the GOP nomination, according to HuffPost Pollster’s poll tracker.

A Graham Senate aide, Kevin Bishop, confirmed the endorsement.

“Many of the people running for president are almost silent on this issue”, he added, saying that Bush “made the most sense” in discussing the topic at Thursday night’s debate.

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Appearing in an extended interview on MSNBC’s Morning Joe from Des Moines, Iowa, Trump said Cruz “hurt himself” in Thursday’s debate with his remarks about the political ideologies of New Yorkers. “Senator Graham certainly fit those criteria, and they’re moving to Governor Bush for those same reasons”. “I’d urge him to get out after New Hampshire if he doesn’t do well, but he probably won’t”, a “disappointed” Bush donor from Wall Street told Politico.

Immigration has become one of the top issues in the presidential race, as hard-liner Donald Trump, who promises to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico boarder, dominates early- state and national polls.

Trump dismissed Graham’s move on Twitter.

“I think Marco Rubio will be president of the United States one day”.

Bush and Graham will hold a press conference to formally announce the endorsement at 9:45am ET in North Charleston, SC.

Graham, who was the GOP field’s most notable (and sometimes most hilarious) foreign policy hawk, said Bush was the right candidate to keep the country safe.

Still, Graham can be a polarizing figure in SC politics.

Bush’s experience and success as Governor of Florida was also addressed by Graham as reasons he is standing behind Jeb.