Sen. Lindsey Graham challenger says the ‘2.0’ version is easier to beat

Democratic Senate candidate Jamie Harrison faces an uphill battle in defeating current South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. No Democrat has won statewide there since 2006, and Trump won the Palmetto State by 16 points in 2016.

Harrison, however, says that Graham is easier to beat now as voters are facing a “different” Graham than the one they originally elected.

“It may have been more difficult to beat Lindsey Graham 1.0. But this Lindsey Graham is a very different Lindsey Graham than the people in South Carolina sent to Washington D.C. over the years,” Harrison told ABC News Political Director Rick Klein Wednesday, on the Powerhouse Politics podcast.

Harrison attacked Graham for originally being one of Trump's biggest critics during the 2016 presidential race to now being one of his staunchest supporters.

“He's a political windsock," Harrison said referencing \conservative columnist George Will's criticism. "He flip flops and basically tries to do what is in his best interests instead of the best interests of the people of South Carolina.”

Graham’s office said the senator was not available to appear on the podcast. ABC News reached out for comment on Harrison's claims.

Shifting to the issues, Harrison stopped short of offering outright support for the Green New Deal, a proposal to tackle climate change calling for 100 percent clean renewable energy, which has served as something of a litmus test for presidential candidates in the Democratic primary.

Harrison said he would “take a look at all those policies like the Green New Deal” and that there are aspects of the package of proposals he finds “really intriguing.”

When Klein asked Harrison whether he believes elements of the Green New Deal go too far, Harrison responded saying, “I need to see what the impact is on various communities.”

“There are some communities in the country where there are poor working folks that are working in them where if you shut down something dramatically, I mean in essence it is a death sentence for that community and the people that live in it,” he told Klein.

On health care, Harrison said he supports a public option, but shied away from backing Medicare-for-all, a proposal that has drawn the support of several prominent 2020 contenders.

“I would love to see some type of public option, and you could have Medicare-for-All as a public option. But I'm a little hesitant to tell people who actually have health care that they like that you are going to be forced to go into one of a type of health care,” Harrison said.

Klein asked Harrison whether he is concerned about the Democrats moving left on such issues in ways that could backfire in places like South Carolina and the industrial Midwest.

“I don't think it's a difference of left and right. I think it's right or wrong,” Harrison responded. “You know there's so many things that are just not right in society.”

Earlier this week, Harrison was endorsed by actor Mark Hamill, who plays Luke Skywalker in the “Star Wars” franchise. Harrison said he hopes to host a campaign event with Hamill. Hamill tweeted that defeating Graham would make the candidate “my 2nd favorite Harrison” – after Han Solo himself, Harrison Ford.

“I woke up on Sunday and I looked at my Twitter feed, and I really wanted to jump up and scream when I saw that Mark actually wrote something,” Harrison said. “I would love to do an event with Mark.”

Powerhouse Politics podcast is a weekly program that posts every Wednesday and includes headliner interviews and in-depth looks at the people and events shaping U.S. politics. Powerhouse Politics podcast is hosted by ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl and ABC News Political Director Rick Klein.