WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican presidential contender Lindsey Graham says his party has room for transgendered people like Caitlyn Jenner.

The South Carolina senator calls himself a “traditional marriage kind of guy.” But he says he “can only imagine the torment that Bruce Jenner went through” before becoming a transgendered woman. He hopes that, now, she’s “found peace.”

The underdog Republican candidate is campaigning on the need to counter threats from terrorists and Islamic State militants. He shares the opposition to same-sex marriage expressed by his rivals but says the Supreme Court is settling that question.

Graham says if Jenner wants to be a Republican, she’s welcome. And he says if she wants a safe country and a strong economy, she should vote for him.

He spoke Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

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