According to Reuters and CNN, on August 21st local time, U.S. President Trump continued to support Darlene Graham, pushing her to succeed her brother Lindsey Graham in the South Carolina Senate seat. This week, Darlene's poor performance during the debate caused controversy, and Trump's move could further lead to division within the Republican Party.
In the Republican Party primary runoff debate this Tuesday, when asked whether the United States' policies towards Taiwan and the South China Sea constitute "national security issues," Darlene found it difficult to answer. She merely replied, "I don't have much knowledge about national security issues; national security is not my area of expertise."
Darlene's poor performance quickly led to doubts within the Republican Party. Many Republicans had previously been reluctant to openly question her eligibility to run for office, but from then on, they began expressing their dissatisfaction publicly.
Former South Carolina Congressman Adam Morgan said that Graham's 'meltdown' on the debate stage should serve as a warning to Trump and his campaign team. 'Now the whole world is watching the jokes from South Carolina, watching the jokes of Darlene Graham.'
The head of the Heritage Foundation and Trump’s staunch ally, Kevin Roberts, criticized Darlene’s response as "shameful and unforgivable". Former Trump advisor Steve Colteson also posted on X, questioning: "Can this absurd nepotistic experiment be stopped?"
Critics also pointed out that Darlene made a mistake in stating the state population during the debate. She claimed that South Carolina had a population of 50 million, but the actual population was only one-tenth of that number. Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace shared this error on social media, commenting, "This Senate race is really frustrating."
Even some of Darlene's supporters found this scene embarrassing. A Republican congressman who backed her after Graham entered the runoff said of her debate performance, "It was unbearable to watch and made it impossible to build confidence."
I was a little surprised, she couldn't even come up with a decent excuse, just said she didn't understand. However, she definitely won't make the same kind of mistakes again, I believe she can catch up on the relevant knowledge within her remaining term. The council member said.
On the 21st, when asked about related situations, Trump defended Darlene’s debate mistake by saying that her response was ‘very honest’. He also said that she ‘would comply with the demands of the U.S. military, which in effect means complying with the President’s wishes.’
At the campaign rally that day, Trump continued to support Darlene, stating that Lindsey 'has a high level of concern for international affairs', while Darlene 'is more concerned about issues related to the burden on the people'.
The report indicates that Lindsey was once a key figure in the Republican Party's foreign policy efforts. Therefore, Darlene's mistakes when answering related questions during the debate were particularly embarrassing.
Reuters said that there was already controversy within the party over Trump's hasty endorsement of Darlene. This embarrassing debate has further widened the rift within the Republican Party. If conservative voters abandon the candidate advocated by Trump, it could also question Trump's influence in the midterm elections.
Lexington County Republican Party Chairman Mark Weber said, “I personally support Trump. Lexington, and South Carolina as a whole, are Trump’s strongholds. But the voters of South Carolina do not want anyone to force or dictate to them how they should vote.”
