Republicans Rebel as Trump Stumps for Nepo Sister Pick

Donald Trump headed to South Carolina on Friday night to throw his Republican pick, Darline Graham, a lifeline in her bid to succeed her brother in the Senate.

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But the race shows a stark reality: the president is struggling to get some Republicans to fall in line before the midterms.

The 62-year-old, who has never held elected office, is facing fallout for admitting at a debate this week that national security was not her thing; her latest response on abortion failed to convince MAGA influencers; and even the betting odds are not moving in her favor despite the president going all in.

On Friday, former South Carolina governor and congressman Mark Sanford, who came in fourth in the special election primary, said he would vote for Rep. Ralph Norman in the runoff and asked his supporters to do the same.

“Are there things on which I disagree with Ralph? Absolutely. But again there are no carbon copies as candidates, and I have seen firsthand his experience in legislative circles, matched by a conservative voting record and conservative stands,” Sanford wrote on X.

While Sanford has long charted his own path rather than march along with Trump, his choice could serve as a permission structure for other Republicans to do the same.

Businessman Mark Lynch, who also ran in the special election, responded to his post, “Well said.”

Trump is not the only person scrambling to help Graham in the final stretch. GOP Senate Whip John Barrasso also campaigned with her this week.

Conservative radio host Erick Erickson wrote: “The establishment working to get Darline Graham across the finish line because Ralph Norman is reliably conservative, even when it defies the establishment, is something to behold. Do they not understand Lindsey Graham’s relationship with the base GOP voters in SC doesn’t help their case?”

Meanwhile, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser also appeared with Graham on Thursday amid concerns from conservatives about her true stance on abortion.

It came one day after conservative influencer Nick Sortor blasted Graham as unqualified for stumbling to respond to a question about abortion on the campaign trail.

“Darline Graham just failed to answer yet ANOTHER super basic policy question,” he wrote. “When asked if she supported a ban on abortion, Darline said ‘I don’t know, I’d have to think about that.’ This is RIDICULOUS. She’s UNQUALIFIED.”

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In the post, Sortor shared a video of a woman pressing Graham on abortion. The senator said she supported the state’s six-week ban, but when asked about a total ban, she said, “I don’t know. Let me think about it.”

Graham put out a list of bills restricting abortion access that she backs as she tries to convince anti-abortion conservatives to back her.

But the Daily Beast revealed recently that Graham previously donated to state senator Katrina Shealy after she fought against a South Carolina near-total abortion ban in 2023.

When confronted about it on the trail, Graham acknowledged the donation but claimed it was made over Shealy’s advocacy for those with disabilities and had nothing to do with abortion, but she also said she had never been to Shealy’s home, even though the state senator previously told The New York Times they used to sit on her porch drinking wine.

Graham’s Republican and Democratic critics alike have similar concerns about not knowing where Graham truly stands.

Dr. Annie Andrews, the South Carolina Democratic Senate nominee, told the Daily Beast after Graham’s debate performance that she was “clearly not ready to serve as a U.S. senator.”

“She’s just really representing sort of the worst possible type of politician, which is one that the voters don’t know where she stands,” said Andrews, who argued that’s because Graham herself is not sure where she stands.

“She’s saying what she is being told to say, and right now, as she’s trying to win a Republican primary, she is saying what her consultants tell her she needs to say to win a Republican primary,” Andrews tore into her ahead of Trump’s visit.

But Andrews said she was ready to debate either Graham or Norman when the time comes. Without an incumbent, Andrews sees the race as wide open despite running in a known red state. She argued she’s making progress with Independent voters and the center-right Republican voters she needs to win, and noted polling shows her within striking distance of both Graham and Norman.

Andrews argued the country is a much different place than when the late senator won his reelection in 2020 by more than 10 points.