President Trump traveled to deep-red South Carolina to make the case for Sen. Darline Graham, saying that electing her to the Senate is critical to stopping Democrats’ progressive agenda.
“With your help this November, we are going to stop the radical left, Democrats, communists here in South Carolina and all across the nation, and we are going to elect Senator Darline Graham to fight, fight, fight for South Carolina,” Mr. Trump told a friendly crowd in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on Friday night. “You vote for her, you are going to be very proud of that vote.”
Ms. Graham faces off against Rep. Ralph Norman, both South Carolina Republicans, in the GOP primary next week to determine who will be their party’s nominee on the November ballot. She was appointed to the Senate after her brother, the late Lindsey Graham, died suddenly last month.
“Everyone respects her,” Mr. Trump said of Ms. Graham. “I’ve known her through Lindsey. I think Lindsey respected Darline more than any other person he knows, including me.
“That does not make me happy,” he joked.
The rally was a rare example of Mr. Trump stumping for a candidate ahead of this year’s critical midterm elections. If Democrats take the House and possibly the Senate, they could stall the president’s agenda and flood the White House with subpoenas while they plot impeachment.
Still, Mr. Trump has largely steered clear of the campaign trail and has rarely ventured into swing states. Regardless of whether Mr. Norman or Ms. Graham wins the primary, the seat is still safe for Republicans.
Ms. Graham raised eyebrows by flubbing a national-security question at a recent debate with Mr. Norman.
South Carolina hasn’t elected a Democrat to the Senate in decades, and it has only one Democrat in its House delegation.
Earlier this month, Mr. Trump held a rally for Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo, a Republican, who is facing off against Attorney General Aaron Ford in the Silver State’s gubernatorial race. It’s one of the few swing-state appearances he’s made this year.
In the aftermath of Lindsey Graham’s death, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, a Trump ally, appointed Ms. Graham to replace her brother. At the time, Mr. Trump called the appointment a “fabulous tribute to Lindsey.”
Mr. Trump pressed Ms. Graham to seek the seat in this year’s election, posting “RUN DARLENE RUN” and giving her his “Complete and Total Endorsement.”
Lindsey Graham was a close ally and friend of the president, with Mr. Trump eulogizing him at his funeral in July.
