Caitlyn Jenner "Is Welcome in My Party," Says Lindsey Graham, Republican 2016 Presidential Candidate

He made his comments in an interview with CNN on Sunday

Lindsey Graham, a Republican 2016 Presidential candidate, wants Caitlyn Jenner's vote.

The 59-year-old South Carolina senator made his comments to CNN on Sunday. Jenner, 65, revealed she is transitioning to become a woman, and is a Republican, in an ABC interview in April.

(With the release of her Vanity Fair cover on June 1, Caitlyn has chosen to identify publicly as a woman and E! News will refer to her using female pronouns. In stories published before this date, Caitlyn was referred to as Bruce and male pronouns were used.)

"If Caitlyn Jenner wants to be a Republican, she is welcome in my party," Graham told CNN's State of the Union.

Graham had announced his presidential bid on June 1, the day the Olympian and Keeping Up With the Kardashians star revealed her female name and new look in a now-iconic Vanity Fair cover story. She has not responded to his remarks.

"I haven't walked into her shoes," Graham told CNN. "I don't have all the answers to the mysteries of life. I can only imagine the torment that Bruce Jenner went through. I hope he's f- I hope she has found peace."

"So the Republicans should reach out to people like her, to transgender Americans, and not shun them," asked CNN reporter Dana Bash.

"Understand what you're getting with Lindsey Graham," Graham replied. "I'm pro-life, I believe in traditional marriage—without animosity. The courts are going to rule, probably in June, about traditional marriage, I will accept the court's decision. I will proudly defend the unborn, but if we can't agree on abortion, then let's talk about taxes. We're literally all in this together."

He also named-dropped Jenner while talking about his views on "radical Islam."

"Here's what I would say to the talk show hosts: In the eyes of radical Islam, they hate you as much as they hate Caitlyn Jenner," he said. "They hate us all because we won't agree to their view of religion. So, American, we're all in this together."

Fellow Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum had commented on the news about Jenner's transition last month, saying at the South Carolina Republican convention. "My responsibility as a human being is to love and accept everybody. Not to criticize people for who they are."

Another Republican presidential candidate, Mike Huckabee, has declined to talk about Jenner's journey. In February, at the 2015 National Religious Broadcasters Convention in Nashville, he called transgender people a "threat" and joked, "Now I wish that someone told me that when I was in high school that I could have felt like a woman when it came time to take showers in PE."