Trump encouraged the audience to give the number a call.
"Give it a shot," Trump said. "Your local politician, you know? He won't fix anything but at least he'll talk to you."
One man did and called out that it said the senator was not available.
A call to the number went to voicemail, which played a recording of a woman's voice saying the number belonged to Graham.
Graham spokeswoman Brittany Bramell confirmed it was the senator's number, and his campaign blasted Trump's tactic.
"Donald Trump continues to show hourly that he is ill- prepared to be commander in chief," Graham campaign manager Christian Ferry said in an e-mailed statement.
"The two people most excited about Donald Trump's candidacy are Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Because of Trump's bombastic and ridiculous campaign, we aren't talking about Obama's horrible deal with Iran or Hillary Clinton's plans to continue Obama's failed national security agenda."
Poll surge
The latest Trumpism follows his disparaging remarks about Senator John McCain's Vietnam War service and comes as he surges into the lead for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, with almost twice the support of his closest rival.
Support for Trump fell sharply on the one night that voters were surveyed following those comments. Telephone interviewing for the poll began on Thursday, and most calls were completed before the news about the remarks was widely reported.
Although the sample size for the final day was small, the decline was statistically significant. Still, it is difficult to predict what could happen to Trump's support in the coming days and weeks as the controversy plays out.
Even with the drop in support on the final night of the survey, Trump was the favorite of 24 percent of registered Republicans and Republican-leaning independents. That is the highest percentage and biggest lead recorded by any GOP candidate this year in Post-ABC News polls and marks a sixfold increase in his support since late May, shortly before he formally joined the race.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who announced his candidacy a week ago, is in second place, at 13 percent, followed by former Florida governor Jeb Bush, at 12 percent. Walker's support is strongest among those who describe themselves as "very conservative."
The next seven, ranging in support from 8 percent to 3 percent, are: former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, Sen. Marco Rubio, Fla., retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, Sen. Rand Paul, Ky., Sen. Ted Cruz, Tex., former Texas governor Rick Perry and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
X Factor
The rankings are more important than early national surveys in previous campaigns because only the top 10 candidates, based on an average of the most recent national polls, will qualify for the first Republican debates. The first debate will be held Aug. 6 in Cleveland. Fox News Channel is the sponsor of that event and established the rules for qualification.
Trump has dominated campaign news since he announced his candidacy. His comments about illegal immigrants have drawn strong responses, pro and con. He said that the Mexican government is sending across the US-Mexican border criminals, drug dealers and rapists, but that some of them are "nice" people.
Through nonstop media interviews and some high-profile appearances, including a big rally in Phoenix on July 11, he has drowned out his opponents. His rivals were tentative in taking issue with his immigration comments but pounced over the weekend when he went after McCain, R-Ariz., a former prisoner of war, who drew the ire of Trump when he said the Phoenix rally had drawn out the "crazies" in the GOP.
Trump has struck a chord with at least a part of the Republican electorate. He does far better among those who are not college graduates than among those who are.
His support among men and women is about the same, and he performs somewhat better among GOP moderates than among those who say they are "very conservative."
His views on immigration are not widely shared. Just 16 percent of Americans say that undocumented immigrants from Mexico are mainly "undesirable people like criminals," while 74 percent say they are mainly "honest people trying to get ahead."
Even in the Republican Party, Trump's characterizations reflect a minority view. Among Republicans, 66 percent say undocumented immigrants from Mexico are mainly honest, while 19 percent say they are mainly undesirable.
There is clear resistance to his candidacy within the party. A majority (54 percent) say his views do not reflect the core values of the Republican Party.
Bush v Clinton
If Trump were to receive the GOP nomination, 62 percent of Americans say they definitely would not consider voting for him. In contrast, just over 4 in 10 say they would definitely not consider voting for Clinton, Bush or Sanders.
Trump, however, could become a factor if he were to leave the GOP race and run for president as an independent. The survey shows that in a hypothetical three-way race, Clinton is at 46 percent, Bush is at 30 percent and Trump is at 20 percent among registered voters.
Trump takes more support away from Bush than Clinton in such a contest. In a head-to-head matchup, Clinton tops Bush by 50 percent to 44 percent among registered voters.
At this point, big majorities in each party say they are satisfied with their choices in the presidential race, with Democrats slightly more so. But compared to this time four years ago, Republicans are noticeably more satisfied with their field of candidates today.
The Post-ABC News poll was conducted July 16-19 among a random national sample of 1,002 adults, including landline and cellphone respondents. Overall results have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. Full results of the poll and detailed methodology are available here.
- With AP
