A Republican Senate seat in reliably conservative South Carolina is drawing unwanted attention from Donald Trump’s own political camp. Megyn Kelly has questioned whether the GOP can hold the seat, warning that a defeat for Darline Graham could become a political problem for the president himself.
Megyn Kelly discusses Trump’s appointment of Graham to the Senate
The alarm comes after a New York Times/Siena poll found Graham and Democratic challenger Annie Andrews running neck and neck. South Carolina has not elected a Democrat to the Senate this century. Kelly reacted with disbelief on her podcast, asking whether the state’s suddenly competitive race could really be happening. “South Carolina is now tied…Is that real.”
Graham’s path to the Senate began when Trump selected her to serve out the term of her late brother, Lindsey, who died in July. She subsequently entered the race for a full term with the president’s backing. Still, her candidacy has drawn opposition from influential South Carolina politicians, including former Republican Gov. David Beasley and former Democratic Gov. Jim Hodges, both of whom endorsed Andrews (via The Daily Beast).
A separate controversy erupted during the Republican primary when Graham told a debate audience, “National security is not my thing.” Trump defended the comment, arguing that responsibility for national security rested with him. Andrews seized on the exchange to challenge Graham’s qualifications. He likened the situation to placing an unprepared surgeon in charge of an operation. “If your surgeon said that appendectomies aren’t really his thing, would you still hand him a scalpel? No,” Andrews commented.
Kelly argued that Trump could struggle to distance himself from the outcome because he helped put Graham in the seat and then encouraged her to run for a full term. “To actually make her the candidate was always risky,” Kelly added. “It happened because Trump made it happen,” Kelly said.
Trump is scheduled to hold a rally in South Carolina on Thursday, October 29, ahead of the November 3 midterm elections. It would be his second visit to the state in support of Graham’s campaign. Kelly speculated that the trip could signal concern within the campaign, saying the president would not spend time in a state “redder than red” unless he had to.
