Trump rallies republicans in the upstate
PENDLETON, S.C. (WACH/AP/ConnectToTheCapitol.com) – President Donald Trump was in the Upstate on Wednesday night to help boost U.S. Sen. Darline Graham, whose stumbles in her first campaign since replacing her late brother have Democratic voters hopeful that their candidate can break the longtime Republican grip on the state.
Trump, who was repeatedly interrupted by protesters early in his speech, sought to reassure South Carolina voters on Wednesday that the late Sen. Lindsey Graham held his sister in high esteem.
“Everybody respects her. She’s smart and incredible. She’ll never let you down.”
— President donald trump speaking about sen. darline graham
He said Graham’s Democratic opponent, pediatrician Annie Andrews, would “be the most extreme and one of the most crazy people in the entire country. It would be a disaster.”
The president initially focused his remarks along Republican attack lines that accuse Andrews of supporting surgeries for transgender minors, which she denies. But the president over an hour and a half drifted from subject to subject, spending relatively little time on South Carolina.
Instead, he mused about renaming bodies of water, lamented that he should have won the Nobel Prize and the Pulitzer Prize, and did an imitation of a female bodybuilder. He ticked through some of the things he has done since returning to office, like his push to lower drug prices, and some goals for the rest of his term, such as expanding the death penalty.
Although South Carolina is not typically a midterm battleground, Trump has been deeply invested in Graham. He supported her appointment to replace Lindsey Graham after his death in July, and he backed her in a special primary when she faced several more experienced Republican opponents. But some distance emerged between the Republican president and the senator over the weekend over his decision to waive Ukraine war sanctions on Russia that were set to be imposed under a law named after Lindsey Graham.
Republicans want to make sure Andrews doesn’t pull off an upset victory. More than $34 million has flowed into the race, and Republicans have hammered Andrews as a “radical liberal.”
This past week, Trump rallied every day for candidates across the country, even in conservative areas, and imploring voters to “pretend I’m on the ballot” in hopes of averting a lackluster midterm turnout for Republicans.
“Darline Graham knows that our campaign’s momentum is so strong she called Donald Trump to come campaign for her in South Carolina,” Andrews said in a fundraising appeal email.
Andrews launched her campaign more than a year before Lindsey Graham’s death. She pivoted to criticizing Darline Graham as “Trump-endorsed and unqualified.”
Andrews argues that Republican policies have weakened not only the broader U.S. economy but also the financial situations of children and families, centering her message on “building a South Carolina that we can all afford,” as she has said in campaign stops in Columbia this past week and around the state.
As the pediatrician seemed to gain steam this fall, Republican groups infused millions of dollars into the race, characterizing the spending as an insurance policy for Graham. Trump attacked Andrews on social media, saying the Democrat doesn’t represent “the Values of the Great People of South Carolina.”
At their only debate, Graham and Andrews disagreed on issues including healthcare but primarily accused each other of inexperience.
“It is nothing personal, but she has shown time and time again that she is not up for the job,” Andrews said, calling Graham’s interim appointment “a nice gesture.”
Graham said serving while processing her brother’s death showed “just how strong I am,” adding that “I’m just as qualified as you are.”
At the Columbia rally, some of Andrews’ supporters said they were hopeful, despite Democrats’ years of Senate losses in the state. When Lindsey Graham last ran in 2020, he defeated Democrat Jaime Harrison by 10 percentage points in a contest that turned into South Carolina’s most expensive ever.
VIDEO TAKES AIM AT LATE LINDSEY GRAHAM
The Young Turks, a left-wing media group, released a documentary Thursday with allegations that the late Sen. Lindsey Graham had sexual relationships with men.
The documentary titled “The CLOSETocracy,” interviews three different men who claim they had sex with Graham.
Graham died in July following an aortic dissection at the age of 71.
He served as a U.S. South Carolina senator for over 30 years. After his death, his sister Darline Graham was appointed to his seat.
During one part of the documentary, a reporter followed Darline and asked her about rumors about her late brother regarding gay escorts.
“I’m not even gonna entertain that question,” she said in response.
The documentary interviews the three men and their alleged experiences with Graham and goes over his record as a U.S. senator regarding gay rights.
RELATED >> Read Commentary on this from Connect to the Capitol Host Catherine Glenn Foster, M.A., J.D.
EARLY VOTING BLITZ
South Carolinians are voting early at more than twice the pace of 2022, as an open governor’s race, a fiercely contested U.S. Senate campaign and challenges in every State House district create a dramatically different political landscape heading into November.
RELATED >> Read the full coverage on early voting in South Carolina.
DEATH OF ALEX SANDERS
The 19th president of the College of Charleston, Alexander M. Sanders Jr., has died, the university announced Wednesday. He was 88 years old.
Sanders’ time presiding over the university spanned 1992 through 2001, a period the university described as a time of “significant growth” in undergraduate enrollment and graduate school expansion.
Outside of his time as university president, he was also a politician, jurist and professor.
His time as a politician spanned from 1977 to 1983, during which he worked as a state senator. He also made a run for the United States Senate as a Democrat in 2002. He lost that race to Sen. Lindsey Graham.
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