“Count me out,” Graham (R-S.C.) said in an impassioned speech on the Senate floor, adding that he was sad to see his journey with Trump end this way.

Meanwhile, Graham said he has not spoken with President Biden, a longtime friend from the Senate, since his Jan.

Graham’s post-presidential embrace of Trump — which puts him squarely at odds with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) — is the latest twist in his on-again, off-again relationship with a man he once called a “kook” and warned could destroy the party.

“If he ran, it would be his nomination for the having,” Graham said of Trump in an interview.

Former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley has said the party needs to turn the page on Trump, who she said has “fallen so far.” After voting to acquit Trump in the impeachment trial, McConnell delivered a scathing speech, calling him “practically and morally responsible” for the violence at the Capitol — and he has told allies he plans to never speak with Trump again.

Some are trying to pave a path in the middle: Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel is scheduled to visit Mar-a-Lago next week to meet with Trump, even as she vows to stay neutral in the internecine warring, according to a person familiar with her plans, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the private meeting.

He then flew with him to Texas the next week and called fellow senators, urging them not to support a move to convict Trump in a trial and bar him from future office.

After previously facing criticism in his home state for not being conservative enough, Graham was reelected last year by double digits after his strong embrace of Trump, who romped to victory in South Carolina.

The former president rejected her request for a meeting, a Trump aide said.

Amanda Loveday, a former executive director of the South Carolina Democratic Party who helped run a Biden super PAC in 2020, said it was frustrating to watch Graham continue to prop up Trump.

The senator regularly questioned his fitness to lead and said the Republican Party deserved to be destroyed if it selected Trump as the nominee.

At one point, Graham called on Trump to “stop being a jackass,” prompting Trump to taunt him at a rally and read Graham’s cellphone number out loud.

But Graham said that once Trump was elected, he wanted to help him be successful — and has grown to like him.

Some former Trump aides and GOP strategists say Graham likes the stardom of being around Trump.

Even Trump has remarked to allies that he is surprised at Graham’s approach after their brutal 2016 encounters, and former Trump aides said Graham was always angling to get on the golf course with the then-president.

“You look at the polling, it shows he dominates the Republican Party, but that a majority of the general population wanted to convict him,” Graham said.

Trump is expected to speak at the conservative conference called CPAC in Florida for his first post-presidential address, an aide said.

His speech will focus on the future of the Republican Party and immigration, the aide said.

He regularly huddled with the lawyers, giving the team feedback from the Senate conference and proposing arguments that might keep certain Republican senators from voting to convict, and calling Trump sometimes multiple times a day, according to Trump advisers.

Still, even as he touted Trump’s sway, Graham acknowledged that the party needs to expand its reach — a tacit acknowledgment of how the former president has polarized the Republican brand.

He said he planned to talk with Trump about how he can help make Republicans more electable, ticking off the very demographic groups alienated by the former president.