President Donald Trump made an impassioned pitch to South Carolina Republicans on Friday to turn out for Sen. Darline Graham in next week’s GOP Senate primary runoff, urging his supporters to vote as though his own name were on the ballot and warning that his agenda could be jeopardized if Graham loses.
Appearing alongside Graham at a packed rally at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center, Trump acknowledged that Republicans face a potential turnout problem during the midterms because he himself is not running. Without Trump at the top of the ticket, he suggested, some of the MAGA voters who reliably turn out for him might stay home.
Trump offered his supporters a simple solution.
“What I really want you to do is pretend, please, that I’m on the ballot,” Trump urged voters. “Just come and vote. It’s so important.”
“So just say that I’m on the ballot, one more time, you got to say it, and you got to come out and vote.”
Trump sought to frame the South Carolina contest as much more than a race over a single Senate seat, arguing that the outcome could determine whether the policies enacted under his administration survive. He warned voters that they could “lose everything” if Graham does not prevail.
“You got to come out and vote,” Trump said, “because if we lose, you’re going to lose your border, you’re going to lose your tax cuts, you’re going to lose everything that we’ve done.”
“Think about no tax on tips, no tax on social security for our seniors, no tax on overtime – all of that’s going to be gone,” the president warned.
Trump also predicted that Democrats would seek to impeach him if they capture control of Congress in the midterm elections.
“I’m going to be impeached. They’re going to impeach me. They have no idea why,” the president fumed.
“You’re gonna lose all of your tax breaks. You’re gonna lose everything. So you have to get out of vote,” he added.
Trump spoke for more than an hour before the large Myrtle Beach crowd, with video screens inside the convention center alternating between messages declaring, “South Carolina is Trump Country” and “South Carolina is Graham Country.”
The rally also included a familiar feature from Trump’s years on the campaign trail, as the president recited “The Snake,” the poem he has frequently used as an allegory while making his case against illegal immigration.
At least one protester interrupted Trump during his remarks, causing him to briefly stop speaking before responding with a joke about the heckler’s mother.
“That’s all right. That person’s going home to mom. Gonna get scolded because mom is voting for us. You know, mom is voting for us.”
Trump was joined at the event by a number of prominent Republicans, including White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who is scheduled to leave her position at the end of August, Sens. John Barrasso of Wyoming and Tim Scott of South Carolina, Rep. Russell Fry of South Carolina, and Graham. Trump invited several of the guests onto the stage during his address.
When Graham took the microphone, she offered an emotional expression of gratitude to Trump for the tribute he delivered at the funeral of her late brother, Lindsey Graham.
Graham thanked the president for “the beautiful eulogy you gave at Lindsey’s service.”
“That meant the world to me,” she said. It was beautiful.”
“You were one of his closest friends. I hope you know that, and you will forever be part of the Graham family,” the senator added.
Graham entered the Senate following her brother’s death. At Trump’s urging, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster appointed her to fill the vacant seat on July 14, and she is now seeking to win a full six-year term in her own right.
In the first round of the Republican primary on Aug. 11, Graham led the field with 32.7% of the vote. Rep. Ralph Norman finished second with 24.6%, while Fry placed third with 19.7%.
Because no candidate secured enough support to win outright, Graham and Norman will face each other in the Aug. 25 Republican Senate primary runoff.
Before wrapping up his appearance, Trump added one more incentive for South Carolina Republicans to deliver Graham a victory.
After pointing out that Myrtle Beach is “the home of 90 great golf courses,” the president promised that if Graham wins the runoff, he will return to the area and take on the city’s best golfer.
“I’ll make you a deal that if Darline wins, I’ll come down and play the best golfer in Myrtle Beach in a match. We’ll see who wins,” he said.
