USAupdated 1h ago2 min read
Trump Campaigns In South Carolina To Boost Darline Graham After Lindsey Graham Death
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Trump travels to South Carolina to rally for Darline Graham in Senate race. Darline Graham, sister of the late Lindsey Graham, is the Republican Senate candidate.
Save coverage image
Explore source coverage 5 source types
Directory totals describe our source library, not outlets checked for this story.
Trump backs Darline Graham
President Donald Trump traveled to South Carolina to boost the campaign of Darline Graham, the sister of the late Senator Lindsey Graham, as the Senate race in deep-red South Carolina grew uncomfortably close for Republicans. Trump said the endorsement was “in honour of her brother,” and he also told voters in a video message, “I’m asking everyone in South Carolina to get out and vote for a wonderful person, a great woman … a woman that Lindsey Graham said is the greatest person he’s ever met,” ahead of his rally alongside Graham.
Senate race dynamics tightened after Lindsey Graham’s unexpected death in July, and South Carolina’s governor tapped Darline Graham to finish her brother’s term before Trump endorsed her in a new Republican primary. Democratic challenger Annie Andrews, a medical doctor and paediatrician, seized on Graham’s inexperience and her debate stumbles, including one instance where Andrews said Graham was “not that informed on national security.”
Protests and campaign attacks
President Donald Trump arrived at a campaign rally in Pendleton, S.C., and he was repeatedly interrupted by protesters early in his speech as he sought to reassure South Carolinians that the late senator held his sister in high esteem.
Trump told the crowd, “Everybody respects her. She’s smart and incredible. She’ll never let you down,” and he argued that Graham’s Democratic opponent, pediatrician Annie Andrews, would “be the most extreme and one of the most crazy people in the entire country.”
Andrews pushed back by telling supporters, “My opponent needs the highest level of federal government politicians to speak for her,” and she said, “On the debate stage, it was really clear.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who spoke ahead of Trump on Wednesday, framed the contest as a hope for the country, saying, “As long as Donald Trump is in the White House, and Darline Graham is in the Senate, we can all hope for a better country.”
Russia sanctions and midterm stakes
The South Carolina rally came after Trump issued an executive order waiving most sanctions and tariffs on Russia, a move tied to a law named after Lindsey Graham that prompted a tempered rebuke from Darline Graham. Darline Graham told The Associated Press news agency on Saturday, “Personally, I would choose to put the pressure on Russia to end the war and get gas prices down,” and she added, “I don’t trust Putin, and I don’t trust Russia,” as the policy shift intersected with the administration’s approach to ending the war with Ukraine.
NBC News reported that Trump called Annie Andrews “tranny Annie Andrews” during the South Carolina rally, and it said Andrews is a physician by training who previously said she does not support gender-affirming surgery for minors or transgender athletes participating in women’s sports. Cook Political Report moved South Carolina from “likely” to “lean” Republican, and Newser said the shift suggested the contest was tightening as Democrats sought gains in two key Senate races.