By David Morgan
WASHINGTON, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Donald Trump heads to South Carolina on Friday to campaign for Darline Graham, a political novice whose unexpected bid for a six-year U.S. Senate term will test the president's influence in a heavily Republican state.
Trump will appear at an evening rally for Graham at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center, days after the sitting senator tripped over a basic question about U.S. foreign policy in a debate this week with U.S. Representative Ralph Norman, her
opponent in next Tuesday's Republican primary runoff.
"I'm just going to be honest here. I'm not that informed on national security," Graham replied to the astonishment of the debate audience, when asked if Taiwan and the South China Sea are national security issues for the United States. "National security is not my thing."
Graham, 62, specialized in services for the disabled before Republican South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster appointed her to fill the seat of her late brother, Senator Lindsey Graham. The late senator had been a leading voice on U.S. foreign policy and a staunch Trump supporter before he died last month of a heart ailment. Darline Graham's current term runs until early January.
But Trump's endorsement of her decision to seek a full six-year Senate term in November's congressional elections rankled some South Carolina Republicans, who criticized the move as an attempted "coronation" of a candidate with no political experience.
"Lindsey Graham was well informed on the United States' national security. Darline Graham admits she's not. This is not something you inherit. And it's critical in the U.S. Senate," former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, a Norman supporter, said on X.
Graham defended her debate response in a later Fox News interview. "I don't speak politician. I was just honest. And I think that's kind of a foreign concept," she said, arguing that South Carolina voters are more concerned about the cost of living, transgender issues, gun rights and immigration.
Norman, 73, a longtime real estate developer, is a leading conservative who has spent nearly a decade in the U.S. House of Representatives. He mounted an unsuccessful bid for governor, finishing third in the June primary.
Graham and Norman emerged from a Republican field of 10 candidates in a special August 11 Senate primary. With Trump's endorsement, Graham bested Norman 32.8% to 24.6% but fell well short of the clear majority needed to win the contest outright.
The winner of Tuesday's runoff will face Democrat Annie Andrews, a pediatrician who had more than $4.1 million in her campaign war chest at the end of June. Control of both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate is up for grabs in November's midterm elections.
The Republican nominee is favored to win the South Carolina Senate seat. Trump carried South Carolina by nearly 18 percentage points in the 2024 presidential election.
(Reporting by David Morgan; editing by Trevor Hunnicutt and Alistair Bell)
