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Graham is an advocate for a strong national defense, support of the military, and United States leadership in world affairs. He has also shown himself to be bipartisan and has worked with Democrats on issues like global warming, tax reform and immigration reform. He is also a critic of the Tea Party movement.
On May 18, 2015, Graham informally announced his candidacy for President of the United States. He made a formal announcement on June 1, 2015, in his hometown of Central, South Carolina. Previously, in October of 2014, he had stated that he would explore running for President in 2016 if re-elected as a Senator in the 2014 election. In March 2015, at a Republican forum in New Hampshire, Graham advocated reversal of recent cuts in defense spending, and said: "If I were President of the United States, I wouldn't let Congress leave town until we fix this. I would literally use the military to keep them in if I had to."
In April 2015, Graham told Chris Wallace, on the Fox News Sunday show, that he was "91% sure" he would run for President, adding, "if I can raise the money, I'll do it." On May 18, 2015, Graham informally announced that he would run for president on CBS This Morning, saying he was running because he thinks "the world is falling apart." Graham made the official announcement of his candidacy for President on June 1, 2015, in his home town of Central, South Carolina.
On July 20, 2015, Graham called Donald Trump a "jackass" during an interview on CNN because he was offended that Trump had criticized his good friend John McCain. The next morning he called Trump a "jackass" again in an appearance on CBS This Morning. In response, Trump ridiculed Graham for asking him for help to get on Fox & Friends and gave out Graham's mobile phone number. Graham responded by releasing a video in which he destroyed his phone.
Following are some of the political positions taken by Graham on a number of issues:
The Tea Party: Graham has been referred to by Tea Party opponents as, a "moderate Republican", who have criticized him for his willingness to be bipartisan and work with Democrats on issues like climate change, tax reform and immigration reform and his belief that judicial nominees should not be opposed solely on their philosophical positions. Graham has criticised and confronted the Tea Party, arguing for a more inclusive Republican Party.
Free speech: In an interview on Face the Nation on April 3, 2011, Graham said that "Congress might need to explore the need to limit some forms of freedom of speech." He argued that "Free speech is a great idea, but we’re in a war," and claimed that "during World War II, we had limits on what you could say if it would inspire the enemy."
National Security Agency surveillance: In response to the 2013 disclosures about the United States National Security Agency and its global surveillance of foreign nationals and U.S. citizens, Graham said that he was "glad" the NSA was collecting phone records. He said: "I'm a Verizon customer. I don’t mind Verizon turning over records to the government if the government is going to make sure that they try to match up a known terrorist phone with somebody in the United States. I don't think you're talking to the terrorists. I know you're not. I know I'm not. So we don’t have anything to worry about."
Detainee interrogations: On the subject of U.S. Citizens accused of supporting terrorism, Graham has said "When they say, ‘I want my lawyer,’ you tell them: ‘Shut up. You don’t get a lawyer. You are an enemy combatant, and we are going to talk to you about why you joined Al Qaeda.’" In response to this and a June 2004 U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing detainees to file habeas corpus petitions to challenge their detentions, Graham authored an amendment to a Department of Defense Authorization Act attempting to clarify the authority of American courts. The amendment passed in November 2005 by a vote of 49–42 in the Senate despite opposition from human rights groups and legal scholars who contended that it limited the rights of detainees.
Immigration reform: Graham was a supporter of "comprehensive immigration reform" and of S. 2611, the McCain-Kennedy Immigration Reform Bill of 2006. His positions on immigration, and in particular collaborating with Senator Ted Kennedy, was met with opposition from conservative activists. In 2010, Graham began working with Democratic New York Senator Chuck Schumer on immigration reform but the talks broke down later in the year. In July 2010, Graham suggested that U.S. citizenship as an automatic birthright guaranteed by the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution should be amended, and that any children born of illegal immigrants inside the borders of the United States should be considered illegal immigrants. Graham alleged that "Half the children born in hospitals on our borders are the children of illegal immigrants." Responding to claim, The New York Times cited a Pew Foundation study estimating that illegal immigrants account for only 8 percent of births in the United States and that 80 percent of the mothers had been in the U.S. for more than one year.
Health care: Graham opposed President Barack Obama's health reform legislation. He voted against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in December 2009, and he voted against the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.
Climate change: On December 10, 2009, Graham co-authored a letter to President Barack Obama along with fellow Senators John Kerry and Joe Lieberman announcing their commitment to passing a climate change bill and outlining its framework. He later withdrew that support however. Graham told reporters in June 2010 that "The science about global warming has changed. I think they've oversold this stuff, quite frankly. I think they've been alarmist and the science is in question. The whole movement has taken a giant step backward." He said that he planned to vote against the climate bill that he had originally co-sponsored, giving the reasons as further restriction of offshore drilling added to the bill and the bill's impact on transportation.
Foreign policy: Graham supports an interventionist foreign policy. On November 6, 2010, at the Halifax International Security Forum, Graham called for a pre-emptive military strike to weaken the Iranian regime. He has also argued that "the U.S. needs to keep at least 10,000 troops in Iraq into 2012." In August 2011, Graham co-sponsored Senate Resolution 175, in which he contended that "Russia's invasion of Georgian land in 2008 was an act of aggression, not only to Georgia but to all new democracies." Graham is a strong supporter of Israel, and opposed the confirmation of President Obama's nomination for secretary of defense, Chuck Hagel, stating that Hagel "would be the most antagonistic secretary of defense towards the state of Israel in our nation’s history." On January 29, 2013, in an interview with Fox News, he claimed that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton "got away with murder", following her testimony about the 2012 Benghazi attack. He called the House Intelligence Committee report on Benghazi "full of crap" because he believed that the Administration had been wrongly cleared of many of the charges against it. He criticized both political parties for allowing the budget reduction to occur said the impact on the Department of Defense would create a "hollow military" that "invites aggression". On July 16, 2013, Graham suggested the United States should consider boycotting the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
Drones: In May 2015 Senator Graham said "If I’m president of the United States and you’re thinking about joining al-Qaeda or ISIS, I’m not gonna call a judge, I’m gonna call a drone and we will kill you."
Taxation: Graham had earlier signed Grover Norquist's Taxpayer Protection Pledge, but in June 2012, he supported the closure of tax loopholes without compensating decreases in other tax revenue, saying "We're so far in debt, that if you don't give up some ideological ground, the country sinks." Graham has received grades of B+ in 2012, and C+ in 2013 from the National Taxpayers Union
Technology: During an appearance on NBC's Meet the Press on March 8, 2015, Graham told host Chuck Todd that he would be happy to release all of his own emails, because he did not use email, and had never sent an email before.
Gun Control: Graham opposes extending background checks, saying that "universal background checks are going to require universal gun registration." He has called current gun laws "broken", and in March 2013, he joined with three other Senators in introducing a bill that would flag individuals who attempt to buy guns who have used an insanity defense, were ruled dangerous by a court or had been committed by a court to mental health treatment.