 September 23, 2021 | by Chris Cillizza and Lauren Dezenski Donald Trump turned on Lindsey Graham. Of course.  The one ironclad rule of friendship with Donald Trump is this: Eventually, he will turn on you.
That time came on Thursday for South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who has sacrificed much over the past four years to ingratiate himself with Trump, in the wake of the release of "Peril," a book on Trump's final year in office.
The book by authors Bob Woodward and Robert Costa documents Graham's repeated -- and unsuccessful -- attempts to convince Trump to concede the 2020 election.
Trump, naturally, responded by savaging Graham, as well as fellow Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah.
"I spent virtually no time with Senators Mike Lee of Utah, or Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, talking about the 2020 Presidential Election Scam or, as it is viewed by many, the 'Crime of the Century,'" Trump wrote in a statement sent via his Save America PAC. "Lindsey and Mike should be ashamed of themselves for not putting up the fight necessary to win."
Trump's heel-turn on Graham should surprise no one -- least of all Graham himself. After all, the South Carolina senator had a prime view over the last few years of how nothing and no one is ever good enough for Trump. Everyone, eventually, lets him down. He is the only one truly dedicated to fighting the, uh, good fight.
Friendship with Trump is very much like being the manager or coach of a professional sports team. You take the job knowing that, at some indefinite time in the future, you will be fired from that job. And that the firing may not be entirely your fault! You may just wind up being the fall guy for a new regime or the victim of people (or your players) just getting bored.
That's friendship to Trump. It's purely transactional. He will be "friends" with you for as long as you are useful to him. If he tires of you or decides you have violated some unwritten rule about loyalty, he will turn on you. Every. Damn. Time.
The Point: Loyalty is a one-way street for Trump. Always has been. Always will be.
-- Chris QUOTE OF THE DAY "We always do this f**king dance." -- Sen. Jon Tester, a Montana Democrat, on Congress' latest debt limit standoff. "This is just a ridiculous exercise," Tester told Politico. "I can't even compare it to anything I do on the farm that's this stupid." THURSDAY'S MUST-SEE TWEETS  1. A savage resignation 2. Meet the "Forward Party" 3. Glenn Youngkin has at least one vote now ... 4. Brian Williams absolutely nails it 5. This is the best Springsteen birthday tweet 
CHRIS' GOOD READS  FINALLY a light at the end of the Delta variant tunnel! At least Axios sees some signs that the Delta variant of the coronavirus is starting to fade.
Australia has put in place some of the most stringent measures to deal with its Covid outbreaks. The New York Times investigates whether it's been worth it. Tucker Carlson just continues to lurch further and further to the far right. The Washington Post's Philip Bump details how Carlson is now openly pushing white replacement theory on his Fox News show.
Paul LePage is running for his old job -- governor of Maine -- again. And Politico reports that some Mainers are terrified.
MUSICAL INTERLUDE About 75% of what I listen to these days is ambient music. And my favorite ambient album of the year so far is "The Cinder Grove" by Chuck Johnson. (NPR really likes it, too!)
-- Chris FREE BRITNEY IN WASHINGTON  Supporters of singer Britney Spears are planning to demonstrate against Spears' conservatorship at the US Capitol on Saturday in what organizers are calling the "March for Britney."
BIDEN'S MAKE-OR-BREAK WEEK  Negotiations come to a head this week on several major pieces of legislation – with the fate of President Joe Biden's entire domestic agenda hanging in the balance.
In the latest episode of The Point, Chris explains how getting infrastructure and budget bills passed is an absolute must for Democrats leading into 2022 midterm election season.
Stick with The Point on YouTube and subscribe. A WINDOWS UPDATE  The Washington National Cathedral in Washington, DC, announced it has commissioned American artist Kerry James Marshall to create stained glass windows with a racial justice theme to replace the windows featuring Confederate Gens. Robert E. Lee and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson that were removed in 2017. You are receiving this message because you subscribed to CNN's The Point with Chris Cillizza newsletter. Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up now to get The Point in your inbox.
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