MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) \u2014 President Donald Trump sought Friday to boost Sen. Darline Graham\u2019s effort to win a full term, telling thousands of supporters that the first step toward keeping her as their senator involves helping the political newcomer triumph in a Republican runoff next week. <\/p>\n
The Republican president also begged them to pretend that he\u2019s on the ballot Tuesday \u2014 even though he is not \u2014 if that will help get them out to vote. <\/p>\n
Voters will decide Tuesday whether Graham or Rep. Ralph Norman<\/a> will be the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate on the ballot in November. <\/p>\n \u201cYou have to get out and vote,\u201d Trump said about Darline Graham, who is serving out the remainder of the term of her late brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham, who died unexpectedly in July. \u201cAnd we need every South Carolina patriot to go to the polls and vote for Darline Graham.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump nodded to the reality that Republican base voters lose interest in elections when he is not a candidate for office, as is the case this year. Trump is serving his second and final term as president. <\/p>\n \u201cSo what I really want you to do is pretend, please, that I\u2019m on the ballot. Just come and vote. It\u2019s so important,\u201d Trump said. \u201cSo just say that I\u2019m on the ballot one more time. You got to say it, and you got to come out and vote.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump, who encouraged Darline Graham to run and has given her his \u201ccomplete and total endorsement,\u201d called her to the stage as he neared the end of his remarks. <\/p>\n \u201cThis is Trump country,\u201d she declared before leading the crowd in chants of \u201cU.S.A.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump visits friendly territory in Myrtle Beach <\/p>\n Trump opened his remarks by declaring he was in a \u201cvery good mood\u201d because Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts earlier Friday allowed construction to continue for now on the $400 million ballroom Trump is adding to the White House. The project is being challenged in federal court. <\/p>\n He appeared jovial throughout and noted at several points that it was the end of the week. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a Friday night. We have plenty of time, right?\u201d Trump said at one point. \u201cWhat the hell do I have to do? Go back, bomb Iran a little bit more?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \n Sign up for the Ground Game Newsletter:<\/strong> At another point, he resurrected a campaign staple by reading the lyrics from the 1960s song \u201cThe Snake\u201d as he steered the speech toward illegal immigration. Trump used to read the lyrics in his past campaigns to illustrate what he said are the perils of allowing people to enter the United States without authorization.<\/p>\n \u201cHaven\u2019t done that in a long time,\u201d he said after he finished the reading. \u201cThat\u2019s our border.\u201d <\/p>\n He also called a cast of people on stage, ranging from Republican Tim Scott, South Carolina\u2019s other U.S. senator, to Karoline Leavitt, his outgoing White House press secretary.<\/p>\n Trump closed by encouraging people to vote for Darline Graham on Tuesday to preserve tax cuts, among other things. He said choosing her would be a tribute to her brother, who was very close to the president, and, \u201cI want it to happen.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cGood luck, Darline,\u201d he said before leaving the stage. <\/p>\n The Myrtle Beach rally was the sort of campaign trail occasion that Trump hasn\u2019t done as much of this year, compared with past midterms, making it a signal of the importance he is placing on a win for his pick. <\/p>\n It was also an opportunity for the president to wade into friendly territory before the midterm elections that leave his party\u2019s control of Congress hanging in the balance. South Carolina hasn\u2019t elected a Democrat statewide in decades, its House delegation has only one Democrat and Trump\u2019s own victory in the 2016 presidential primary here helped propel him toward the nomination and ultimately the White House.<\/p>\n Darline Graham draws contrasts with Norman<\/p>\n \u201cI am many things: a problem solver, a mother, a leader, but I am not a career politician,\u201d Darline Graham said. Norman has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2017.<\/p>\n In the scramble of a special Republican primary election<\/a> that was called after Lindsey Graham\u2019s sudden death, his sister was picked by Gov. Henry McMaster \u2014 also a Trump ally \u2014 to serve as interim senator<\/a> and entered the special primary at Trump\u2019s urging<\/a>. The president had said he told McMaster that appointing her would be a \u201cfabulous tribute to Lindsey,\u201d although the governor pointed out that he asked Graham to serve \u201cin the wee hours\u201d after her brother\u2019s death, adding that Trump \u201cthought it was a great idea\u201d when he later told him of his pick. <\/p>\n Hours before the rally, McMaster officially endorsed Graham. When he appointed her Graham last month, a person familiar with McMaster\u2019s thinking but unauthorized to speak publicly about it said the governor had never contemplated<\/a> that she would run for the seat herself.<\/p>\n The president pressed \u201cRUN DARLINE, RUN\u201d on social media, and gave her his \u201cComplete and Total Endorsement\u201d before she\u2019d officially announced<\/a> her campaign. And at every turn on the campaign trail, she\u2019s reminded voters of this anointing, as well as her commitment to advancing his priorities if elected. On the eve of the primary two weeks ago, he held a tele-rally for Graham. <\/p>\n Like Trump, Darline Graham has portrayed herself as a political outsider<\/p>\n A political newcomer,<\/a> Graham has stressed that she\u2019s \u201cnot a politician,\u201d as she\u2019s hurriedly introduced herself to voters across the state. Regularly touting her support for Trump\u2019s policies, as well as his endorsement, she has pointed to her years heading up a state agency, as well as her weeks on the job in the U.S. Senate, as evidence of her readiness.<\/p>\n Saying she\u2019s \u201canswering President Trump\u2019s call to serve,\u201d she has repeatedly said she wants \u201cto fight for President Trump\u2019s agenda\u201d and cited his core goals of border security and passing the SAVE Act voting bill as among her top priorities.<\/p>\n Graham has said she\u2019s focused on kitchen table issues like gas prices and household spending rather than international affairs. Earlier this week, after stumbling on an elemental foreign policy question<\/a> related to U.S. interests in Taiwan,<\/a> Graham defended herself as \u201cnot a polished politician up here.\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking publicly about the gaffe for the first time Friday, before he flew to South Carolina, Trump told reporters Graham \u201cwas being honest\u201d when she said Tuesday during a debate that she wasn\u2019t up to speed on national security issues.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s surrounded by very good people, and she said that she\u2019s totally for the military,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n
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