Trump Backs Handpicked Graham in Tight Senate Race

Donald Trump rallied in Rock Hill, South Carolina, on Thursday for Darline Graham, his handpicked candidate in a Senate race that remained unexpectedly tight five days before the election. A New York Times/Siena poll found Graham and Democrat Annie Andrews neck and neck, while Republicans remained fractured over Trump's choice.

An Endorsement From the Top

Two voters at the rally said Trump's endorsement influenced their support for Graham. Billy Stanick put the arrangement plainly: “I vote for everybody that Donald Trump endorses.” The election campaign offered voters a choice between candidates, but the rally also showed how a national political figure's endorsement could shape support for one of them.

Stacy Rothenberger said people “just hate Trump because they've been told to,” and argued that “by not voting for Republicans, you are really voting for the opposite.” She acknowledged that Trump sometimes says “things that aren't always the best, that I wouldn't approve of,” but urged voters to “put that aside” and see him as a “businessman” and negotiator.

Rothenberger said she was “frustrated” because she wanted the Iran war to end. Still, she believed Trump “knows what he's doing, he's figuring it out.” Her comments tied a voter's concern about war to trust in a powerful political figure, rather than describing any community-led response. The account of the rally described campaign activity and voting; it gave no examples of mutual aid or direct action.

A Candidate's Inexperience, a Party's Bet

Graham is seeking a full term after her brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham, died in office. Trump endorsed her to fill the remainder of her late brother's term and to run for a full seat. Earlier this year, she defeated Rep. Ralph Norman in a special primary runoff.

The rally took place in Norman's congressional district. Norman told NBC News he wasn't attending. Trump had been in South Carolina the previous week, returning to campaign for Graham as the contest tightened.

Stanick said Graham was a political newcomer, but trusted she had “got to know what's going on” from her time with her brother. Rothenberger said, “We are praying that she will get on board and she'll educate herself and get knowledgeable.” She added: “I mean, if I went into politics I wouldn't know everything either. Do you know what I mean? I'll give her a little grace.” The comments put the burden of learning the job on a candidate voters were being asked to trust with a full term.

The Rally's Other Targets

Trump called Black and Jewish supporters of Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed “crazy.” “If you're Black or if you're Jewish, and if you vote for Abdul, you're crazy,” he said. Trump had repeatedly targeted El-Sayed at campaign rallies around the country and used Islamophobic rhetoric about him over the weekend in Michigan, calling him a “jihadist.”

Trump defended his economic record while misstating inflation. He said, “Core inflation is very low. We inherited the worst inflation in the history of our country, and we have for the last three months, inflation is 1.7%.” The inflation rate in September was 3.7%, up from 3.4% in July and August. He blamed “Sleepy Joe Biden,” then said, “So we're smashing expectations with today's numbers, beating 72% of the economists' forecast. They don't know what the hell they're doing, economists.”

He also proposed requiring presidential and vice-presidential candidates to take cognitive tests, saying, “people that run for president or vice president should be forced to have cognitive tests.” He said he had taken three and “aced every single one.” And after the government renamed Lake Ontario “Lake America” and the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America,” Trump floated naming the Hormuz Strait after himself. Vice President JD Vance was heading to Texas to rally for Republican Ken Paxton against Democrat James Talarico in another competitive Senate race. The political machine kept moving, from one candidate and rally to the next.