Can Trump’s endorsement save Darline Graham from herself in South Carolina? | Opinion
President Donald Trump’s endorsement record in Republican primaries has taken a hit as of late. It may be dealt yet another blow on Tuesday in South Carolina.
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Trump has endorsed Darline Graham in the special Republican primary for the U.S. Senate seat recently vacated by her late brother. Technically, Graham is the incumbent, as she was appointed by Gov. Henry McMaster to fill the seat in the interim. Tuesday’s election will be a runoff between Graham and U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, after Graham failed to win the primary outright.
It’s become increasingly clear that Trump may have backed the wrong horse. Many Republicans were surprised — and unhappy — when Trump made his endorsement last month. They felt like he was handing the seat to someone who hadn’t earned it, and Graham’s lack of a political record drew skepticism. They also questioned whether she could win.
Nonetheless, the president’s backing made Graham the frontrunner. But Graham and her campaign have stuttered spectacularly in recent days, prompting Trump to make a rare return to the campaign trail to stump for Graham in Myrtle Beach on Friday.
The most significant stumble occurred at a recent debate, where Graham made a gaffe for the ages. The moderator asked whether Taiwan and the South China Sea are national security issues — a fairly basic foreign policy question. Graham responded, “I’m not that informed on national security … but I do support the military.”
It was a breathtaking admission from a sitting U.S. senator who is asking voters to elect her to a full term. It made her look unprepared, uninformed and unequipped for the job. All of which highlighted her biggest vulnerability: her lack of experience.
Then came the damage control. On Fox News, Graham said she was “just honest” and that people in South Carolina are more concerned about things like “boys in girls’ sports” than Taiwan. (Let it be known that in South Carolina, transgender athletes have been banned from competing on female sports teams in public schools and colleges since 2022.)
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At a campaign event, Graham said that she will “become informed” and “everybody has a first day on the job.” Yes, there’s a learning curve to every new job, and being honest about it is a whole lot better than pretending. But that excuse only goes so far. It’s OK, for example, if Graham doesn’t yet understand all the rules and traditions of the U.S. Senate, or if she doesn’t have the communication skills of a politician who’s been doing this for years.
It is, however, perfectly reasonable to expect sitting and aspiring senators to have a working knowledge of the issues they will be expected to confront as an elected official. It’s not unfair to hold Graham to the basic standard of being informed. How else are voters supposed to evaluate her for the position?
Graham’s debate woes are not the only thing working against her. Perhaps even more threatening to Graham’s campaign is rising backlash from the most rigid parts of the Republican base, who question whether Graham is sufficiently conservative, particularly on abortion issues. Graham says she is pro-life, and she promptly co-sponsored a slew of anti-abortion bills upon arriving in Washington. But the most zealous anti-abortion activists aren’t convinced that Graham would support legislation that eliminates abortion completely. When asked if she would support a ban on abortion from the moment of conception, Graham responded, “I don’t know. Let me think about it.”
It remains to be seen how much any of this will affect Graham in Tuesday’s runoff. The president still has a strong grip on Republican voters overall, and his preferred candidates win more often than not. But in 2026, we have seen that Trump’s endorsement is not as decisive as it once was, especially when he picks candidates that voters perceive as flawed. In some cases where Trump has favored the establishment-backed candidate, voters have picked the relative outsider, including in South Carolina’s own race for governor. In some cases where Trump backed embattled incumbents, voters chose fresh faces.
In this case, it may just be that voters want a candidate who earns the seat, not one that inherits it. It’s not a rebuke of Trump — but it may be a rejection of the idea that Trump always knows best.
Deputy Opinion Editor Paige Masten covers politics and the 2026 elections for The Charlotte Observer and The News & Observer.
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This story was originally published August 24, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
