“The Trump presidency- it’s like every day is Christmas,” Graham said. “You don’t know what’s under the tree. It can be that shotgun you’ve been hoping to get, or it can be a sweater you don’t want … There’s something under the tree… It makes it fun.”

For Graham, who spoke with POLITICO in an interview in his Capitol Hill office and views himself as a dealmaker, this is his sweet spot and one he’s seizing on now in particular: He’s one of Trump’s biggest defenders on Capitol Hill but is still a go-to lawmaker for Democrats who want to work across the aisle on legislation. But his whipsawing around Washington could pose a threat to his credibility, particularly as he prepares for his reelection campaign and tries to evade a primary challenger…

Graham is already getting heat for changing his views of Trump from Jaime Harrison, a former chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party vying for his Senate seat. Harrison describes Graham as a “political chameleon that changes his stripes and colors to benefit himself” and slammed him for getting “slim to none” done legislatively.

“We all know that Lindsey likes to be in the mix,” Harrison said. “It could be a gang of one and Lindsey Graham would want to be there if there’s a TV camera and a microphone. But at the end of the day how does that benefit the people of South Carolina?”