Trump Endorsement Brings ‘Very Nice Lady’ Victory In South Carolina Senate Runoff
Darline Graham secured the GOP nomination for the Senate seat her late brother, Lindsey Graham, long held.Darline Graham secured the GOP nomination for the Senate seat her late brother, Lindsey Graham, long held.Lindsey Graham's sister ridiculed over embarrassing admission: 'Not my thing'
Skepticism over whether the sister of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R) is qualified to keep his seat was greatly compounded on Tuesday by a troubling admission she made during a debate with Ralph Norman, the Republican congressman who is also running to represent South Carolina in the U.S. Senate.
Darline Graham, a former commissioner with the South Carolina Commission for the Blind, was appointed last month by Republican South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster to finish her brother's term. Lindsey Graham died unexpectedly on July 11.
'What are we doing here?'
Graham and Norman both advanced from the special GOP primary on Aug. 11 and are on the ballot in the primary runoff on Aug. 25.
Immediately after the candidates fielded some questions about the U.S.-Iran war and what to do about the apparent depletion of critical American munitions, debate moderator Greta Van Susteren asked Graham, "Are Taiwan and the South China Sea national security issues for the United States?"
The Pentagon noted in its 2026 National Defense Strategy document that communist China's historic military buildup affects America's interests because "the Indo-Pacific will soon make up more than half of the global economy."
"The American people’s security, freedom, and prosperity are therefore directly linked to our ability to trade and engage from a position of strength in the Indo-Pacific," said the NSS document. "Were China — or anyone else, for that matter — to dominate this broad and crucial region, it would be able to effectively veto Americans’ access to the world’s economic center of gravity, with enduring implications for our nation’s economic prospects, including our ability to reindustrialize."
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As for Taiwan, the island nation sought by Beijing is a "semiconductor manufacturing powerhouse" that ranks among America's top-five merchandise trading partners.
After having Van Susteren repeat the question, Graham responded, "I'm just going to be honest here. I'm not, on national security — I'm not that informed on national security."
Graham paused for a moment, then added, "But I do support the military," then referenced her brother's and father's military service.
'This is not something you inherit.'
"I'm not a polished politician up here. National security is not my thing, not my area of expertise," continued South Carolina's first female senator, "but I do support the military."
Norman didn't immediately make hay of Graham's admission but instead answered the moderator's original question, stating, "Taiwan is a definite ally, and we have a trading relationship with them that is beneficial to the United States, chips being one of them and others."
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Norman further emphasized the need for America to deter China from taking over Taiwan, in part by sustaining Trump's "peace through strength" approach abroad.
While Norman didn't pounce on Graham's admission, others on the right did en masse.
Kevin Roberts, the president of the Heritage Foundation, noted, "I’m sorry, but respectfully, even accounting for her being new to the job, this is embarrassing and inexcusable. China’s threat toward Taiwan is a bit of a big deal, especially — it would seem — for a member of the U.S. Senate."
BlazeTV host Steve Deace tweeted, "What are we doing here?"
"I did not think I had heard that right," wrote South Carolina state Sen. Matt Leber (R). "This admittance should be the end of this race."
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley tweeted, "Lindsey Graham was well informed on the United States’ national security. Darline Graham admits she’s not. This is not something you inherit. And it’s critical in the U.S. Senate."
Graham faced far less ridicule over her suggestion during the debate that there were "50 million people in South Carolina."
President Donald Trump has endorsed Graham and is scheduled to attend a rally with her in Myrtle Beach on Friday.
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Drain the swamp? Meet the refill.
Darline Nordone’s rise in South Carolina threatens to turn one of MAGA's founding promises into a punch line. The movement that vowed to "drain the swamp" is now watching establishment money, inherited political machinery, and a presidential endorsement converge behind the sister of one of the Senate's most durable establishment figures.
It also risks making Republicans look ridiculous as they denounce the rise of the Democratic Socialists of America.
Democrats will use this cartoonish spectacle to argue that the Republican Party has been captured by corporate interests and turned its back on ordinary Americans.
Nordone (recently rebranded as Darline Graham) remains something of a political blank slate. Beyond the relationship with her late brother Lindsey, her support for a pro-abortion political ally, her years in state bureaucracies, and her association with diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, voters have relatively little record from which to judge what she would actually do in the Senate.
Her refusal to state clearly what she is for and against only deepens the uncertainty.
What voters can reasonably expect, however, is continuity with the Graham political brand: Lindsey Graham's fanatical interventionist foreign policy, establishment instincts at home, and comfort with bipartisan deals that many MAGA voters spent the past decade rejecting.
That is precisely what the MAGA movement was supposed to oppose. We do not need to consult America’s founders to remember why. We need only go back to 2015, when candidate Donald Trump declared war on the political establishment and won by promising to change it.
Obviously, the call to “drain the swamp” reigns supreme in setting the frame, but there is an embarrassment of riches in terms of quotes to choose from to make the point even more specifically. How about at the first Republican debate in 2015:
I will tell you that our system is broken. ... I give to everybody. When they call, I give. And you know what? When I need something from them, two years later, three years later, I call them. They are there for me. ... And that’s a broken system.
How about candidate Trump on Hillary Clinton:
These interests have rigged our political and economic system for their exclusive benefit. Big business, elite media, and major donors are lining up behind the campaign of my opponent because they know she will keep our rigged system in place. They are throwing money at her because they have total control over everything she does. She is their puppet, and they pull the strings.
And what about the special interest support of failed military interventions supported by his then-opponent Senator Lindsey Graham:
Judging by the incompetent way he ran his campaign, it is easy to see why his military strategies have failed so badly — we can’t even beat ISIS!
That is the political movement I signed up for, volunteered for, worked for, and still fight for.
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How can that movement be squared with an extension of establishment politics rather than its replacement? It can't. Everything Trump once condemned is now reappearing in almost cartoonish form.
So who is spending so heavily to support Darline Graham Nordone — and what do those interests expect in return?
A group called the Invest in Tomorrow Coalition is flooding money to support Darline Graham Nordone against her conservative opponent Ralph Norman. The group has announced $1 million in the race, as part of a $15 million larger pledge across the country, having already spent millions to defeat conservatives Chip Roy and Andy Ogles in their primary races.
The group is a super PAC, made possible by the 2010 Citizens United decision and its progeny, and funded by "clean energy" interests that favor government support for their industry. Conservatives have spent years attacking that kind of arrangement as corporate welfare — or, less politely, socialism. The point is not that every donor buys a politician outright. It is that political money is rarely charitable. Donors spend because policy matters to them.
Darline Graham Nordone has also received support from the establishment Senate campaign arm, the National Republican Senatorial Committee. While she can’t take over her late brother's campaign account directly, it can be transferred to the NRSC, which is funding her already. Notably, her opponent, Ralph Norman, is an original co-sponsor of the Save America Act from six years ago. For an establishment Senate already twisted into knots over its obstruction of that critical legislation, it makes sense that they wouldn’t want another fierce advocate for it.
There are others in this one-sided spending race as well. The Security is our Strength PAC, formerly associated with Lindsey Graham, is of course supporting her to the tune of $900,000. This group makes it clear that it views her as the one who will be “carrying the legacy forward.”
I take it from their perspective that they want the same out of this Graham that they got out of the last one, which is a different political tune than others suggesting that Darline may be more focused domestically. There is also a group called Palmetto Action that is coming in north of $1 million to oppose Ralph Norman, on similar lines.
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Put simply, a great deal of money is flooding into South Carolina, and most of it is either supporting Darline Graham Nordone or opposing Ralph Norman. For a movement built around draining the swamp, the optics could hardly be worse.
South Carolinians should brace for a deluge of ads from every screen and speaker they own. Special-interest money can move votes; that is why people spend it. But the underlying question will remain: Why is Darline Graham Nordone a serious contender for this Senate seat? Her birthright senatorship via a famous last name, President Trump's endorsement, and a flood of outside money are doing much of the work.
South Carolinians should see this for what it is: a rejection of one of MAGA's core promises. This is not draining the swamp. It is restocking it.
Democrats will happily use this cartoonish spectacle to argue that the Republican Party has been captured by corporate interests and turned its back on ordinary Americans. They will also have an easy answer when Republicans denounce democratic socialism: Why should voters take that charge seriously if a Republican senator reaches office with the help of interests seeking to socialize the costs of private investment?
That will be a tough charge to rebut.
If they mocked Lindsey Graham’s death, why would they accept you?
While the passing of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has sparked an outpouring of tributes from allies, there’s also been a disappointing wave of celebration from the left.
BlazeTV host Ron Simmons is disturbed by what he’s seeing, pointing out that Graham wasn’t even a “far -ight zealot.”
“The left will hate us no matter who is in charge,” he says, before pulling up a post on X from Ana Kasparian, who simply wrote: “Good riddance.”
“In follow-up comments, including on Instagram, she doubled down and said she was elated that he was dead and overjoyed,” Simmons explains.
“And Nick Fuentes ... posted the same thing verbatim. Cenk Uygur, co-creator of 'The Young Turks,' posted, ‘Lindsey Graham has moved on to the next step of his journey, trying to convince Hades to attack Zeus and Poseidon,’” he continues.
“Comedian Elizabeth Booker Houston dropped off a ‘congratudolences’ cake at Graham’s office for his sister to receive. This is the worst one,” he adds.
“I just dropped this cake off at Lindsey Graham’s office. Congratuldolences, Darline! Your brother is burning in hell, and now, you’re working for the devil!” Houston wrote in a post on X.
Hasan Piker also chimed in on Graham’s passing, writing “lmao” in a quote tweet of a post remembering Graham.
“What I want you to understand is that don’t think when Donald Trump is out of office in 2029, he leaves office in early 2029, that ... that’s going to be a big kumbaya moment. It’s not going to be,” Simmons says.
“Do not be fooled by that. We need to stick to our principles, stick to our policies. Do I wish that Trump wouldn’t say some of the things he says? Absolutely. Absolutely. 100% ... but our policies is what we need to be the most concerned about,” he continues.
“We need to stay strong and move on from here,” he adds.
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‘Birthright senatorship’ betrays America First
A few weeks ago, Americans celebrated the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence — our formal rejection of hereditary rule and political power by birthright.
Now South Carolina Republicans are being asked to embrace precisely that principle in a Senate primary.
South Carolina does not need another half-century of political inheritance. It needs a genuine changing of the guard.
After initially saying Darline Graham Nordone would hold her late brother Lindsey Graham’s U.S. Senate seat only temporarily while the state prepared for a special election, President Trump encouraged her to seek a full six-year term. She agreed.
This candidacy began with a promise that proved disposable. A lie. Nothing about it has improved since.
Nordone’s central qualification is obvious: She is Lindsey Graham’s sister. Her campaign amounts to “birthright senatorship” — an inherited claim on public office dressed up as party unity.
America First voters were promised an assault on the swamp: entrenched power, donor networks, insider dealing, and political advancement based on access rather than merit. They were not promised a new hereditary class with Senate seats passed from one family member to another.
To borrow Graham’s own words from the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation fight, this is a sham, and South Carolinians should see through the charade.
Graham’s speech during that battle was one of his finest moments in the Senate. It may have helped save Kavanaugh’s nomination. It did not create a family title to the office Graham held.
His sister is not entitled to inherit his seat because he died in office.
The proposed Graham dynasty is especially offensive because this seat has already been dominated by two men since 1956: Strom Thurmond and Lindsey Graham. South Carolina does not need another half-century of political inheritance. It needs a genuine changing of the guard.
Most voters cannot leave their children a lucrative career, much less a seat in the United States Senate. Public office is not family property. It belongs to the people, who are supposed to choose among candidates with records, ideas, and qualifications of their own.
Nordone has no meaningful public record in politics or policy that would justify elevation to one of the nation’s most powerful offices. What fills that void instead is support for diversity, equity, and inclusion programs; a career inside federally subsidized state bureaucracy; and an endorsement from Rep. Jim Clyburn, the South Carolina Democrat whose support revived Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign.
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None of that recommends her to voters who were told they were dismantling the old order.
For years, South Carolina politics has been dominated by the Haley-Graham cocktail circuit: polished Republicans who chased dragons abroad while much of their state declined beyond the comfortable enclaves of Charleston and Columbia.
Graham’s death was tragic. His foreign-policy views were often badly out of step with America First voters, but no decent person wished for his sudden passing. He deserves mourning and respect.
His sister does not deserve a coronation.
The Republican Party should be especially wary of this arrangement because its voters have spent a decade rebelling against political dynasties. They rejected the Bushes, resisted the Clintons, and rallied behind Trump in part because he attacked a system in which the right surname, donor list, or social circle mattered more than accountability.
A Truth Social post should not be enough to transform blood relation into political legitimacy. Neither should the swift organization of party officials, donors, and consultants eager to preserve their access.
If Nordone wants the seat, she should earn it on the strength of her own record and convictions. So far, she has offered neither. Her campaign asks voters to treat kinship as qualification and temporary appointment as entitlement.
That is the political world America First was supposed to destroy.
South Carolina Republicans should refuse to build a Graham dynasty in the name of draining the swamp. They should reject birthright senatorship and choose a senator rather than accept an heir.
A ‘tribute’ or the best choice? Lindsey Graham’s Senate seat becomes a family heirloom.
Following the sudden passing of Senator Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster (R) has officially appointed Graham's younger sister, Darline Graham, to finish out the remainder of his term in Washington.
The decision is backed by an endorsement from President Donald Trump.
“I recommended, to Governor Henry McMaster, Lindsey Graham’s wonderful sister, Darline, to serve as interim Senator from the Great State of South Carolina. This would be a fabulous tribute to Lindsey, who loved her dearly!” the president wrote in a post on Truth Social.
However, BlazeTV host Pat Gray isn’t sure that a U.S. Senate seat is something to be passed down as a "tribute.”
“I don’t want a fabulous tribute to Lindsey Graham. It should be somebody who would make a great senator. If she’s the one, that’s fine,” he says. “But is she the one?”
“Conservative, smart, capable. That’s what you want. ... It wasn’t Lindsey’s seat to own and then hand off to a family member,” he adds.
“Well, it kind of was,” Jeff Fisher argues.
“That’s the way those Senate seats have been. That’s why John Cornyn was so shocked that he got booted,” Fisher continues.
“That’s the way we treat it, but it’s not that way. It’s not that way. And we need to stop treating it as such,” Gray says.
And in a speech, Gov. McMaster announced the appointment of Darline to Graham’s seat.
“Today under the law, it’s my duty to and honor to name someone to serve in the place of this irresistible man — this irreplaceable man,” the governor said, correcting himself.
“Lindsey took care of his little sister in years long departed. It’s my honor to ask his little sister, Darline Graham, to finish his work for him now,” he added.
“So, I guess she’s got a duty to serve,” Gray comments, adding, “but he never said anything about her being the best candidate for that position.”
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Lindsey Graham’s sister enters Senate race following Trump endorsement
Less than a week after joining the Senate to fill her brother’s seat, the sister of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham has decided she will run for a full term.
“I’ve made a decision,” Sen. Darline Graham (R-S.C.) told Fox’s Sean Hannity in an interview posted to X on Monday. “I’m in.”
'I feel like I can do it.'
Graham said she reached the decision after spending time in prayer and consulting with her family.
“I have been praying a lot, talking to my family. But with the love of my family, with the support of his staff, I know I’m a hard worker. I learned that from Lindsey. He cared about the people of this state. I’ve worked for almost 30 years for the people of this state. I feel like I can do it,” she expressed.
President Donald Trump publicly endorsed Graham on Friday, urging her to enter the race.
“I asked Darline, for the Good of our Nation, to run for the U.S. Senate in the Special Republican Primary on Tuesday, August 11, 2026," Trump wrote.
“Darline, who comes from an absolutely incredible family, has been a WINNER all of her life and, should she accept, has my Complete and Total Endorsement in the Special Election for U.S. Senate in South Carolina,” he added.
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Graham was sworn into the Senate Tuesday, a day after she was appointed by South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) to serve out the remainder of her brother’s term, which concludes in January.
Trump also weighed in on that decision, posting on Truth Social, "I recommended, to Governor Henry McMaster, Lindsey Graham’s wonderful sister, Darline, to serve as interim Senator from the Great State of South Carolina. This would be a fabulous tribute to Lindsey, who loved her dearly!"
Lindsey Graham died on July 11 at age 71 of an aortic dissection, according to a preliminary finding from the medical examiner, after what the late senator's office initially described as a "brief and sudden illness."
The filing deadline for the special election is July 28, with several Republican candidates having already declared their candidacies, including Reps. Russell Fry and Ralph Norman, as well as businessman Mark Lynch.
The Republican nominee will go on to face Democrat Annie Andrews in the November general election.
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How one lowered flag carried me home
McAllister, Montana, does not take long to drive through. We have a post office, a cabinet shop, and an empty lot where the old bar and restaurant once stood.
Yet there it was. The American flag hung at half-staff.
Somewhere between the Carolina foothills and a tiny town in southwest Montana, I was reminded that no matter how far life carries us, the places that formed us never quite let us go.
It was not for someone from Montana. It was for a boy from upstate South Carolina.
Standing in the parking lot of that tiny post office, I found myself thinking that southwest Montana might as well be another country from the red clay, pines, and dogwoods of northwest South Carolina.
Yet one lowered flag carried me back more than 2,000 miles, leaving me with an unexpected ache for both places.
Lindsey Graham’s passing felt different. There had been no long illness, no farewell tour, no gradual retreat from public life. He worked until the end. One day, he was in the middle of the nation’s business. The next, the flag in our little Montana town flew at half-staff for a man whose life began just a few miles from mine.
Washington knew him as a senator. The world knew him as a fixture on Sunday morning news programs, in committee hearings, and on diplomatic missions halfway around the globe.
Upstate South Carolina knew him simply as Lindsey.
Our paths crossed long before I could have imagined standing beside a lowered flag in a small Montana town thinking about him.
He grew up in Central. I grew up in nearby Anderson. We may even have been born in the same hospital.
When Lindsey first ran for Congress, my sister worked on his campaign. His district included my parents’ home. For a time, his sister lived only a few doors from them. Years later, one of my four brothers worked closely with him through the State Department on matters involving Qatar, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and other countries.
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The first time I met Lindsey personally was at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where my wife, Gracie, had been invited to sing for wounded warriors. We shared dinner that evening with Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and his wife, along with Montana’s Conrad Burns.
At one point, Lindsey laughed and said he and I could carry on a conversation without anybody needing subtitles.
After meeting several members of my family over the years, he ran into my parents somewhere back home, shook his head with that familiar grin, and asked, “How many of y’all are there?”
That was Lindsey. For all the demands placed on him, he remembered people.
We disagreed on more than a few things over the years. Some of those disagreements mattered. But disagreement is not the same thing as dismissal.
Somewhere along the way, we have forgotten that.
In an era when too many public careers seem measured by growing fortunes and lucrative opportunities after leaving office, Lindsey’s modest estate told a different story. Whatever history ultimately concludes about every vote he cast or every position he took, it is difficult to argue that he entered public life to enrich himself.
He seemed to take the title literally.
It was public service in the truest sense of the phrase.
Whether one agreed with him or not, Lindsey’s work ethic was undeniable. He left behind a reputation far larger than his estate.
Lindsey Graham died with his boots on.
Only hours earlier, he was still in motion — meeting with allies, working with foreign leaders, talking with colleagues, and carrying the responsibilities that had defined most of his adult life.
Then, almost in an instant, the meetings ended, the phones stopped ringing, and the man who had spent a lifetime helping shape history took his place within it.
Flags across America have been lowered. Soon, they will be raised again. The mail will be sorted. Ranchers will stop by the post office. Life will continue, as it always does.
But standing there in the parking lot of our little post office, I closed my eyes and sighed.
I was not thinking about Washington or the halls of power. I was thinking about upstate South Carolina.
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I was thinking about the red clay my mother could never keep her five sons from tracking into the house. Boiled peanuts from a roadside stand. A sticky, hot Carolina afternoon with pine trees swaying just enough to remind you there was a breeze after all.
I was thinking about familiar voices, familiar roads, and a local boy from Central who somehow found himself helping shape the course of a nation without ever quite losing the cadence of home.
The United States lost a man who served first in uniform, then in the House of Representatives, and finally in the Senate.
South Carolina lost a son.
And somewhere between the Carolina foothills and a tiny town in southwest Montana, I was reminded that no matter how far life carries us, the places that formed us never quite let us go.
I suspect Lindsey Graham never heard of McAllister, Montana.
But that flag outside a tiny post office quietly testified that McAllister, along with countless other towns across America, paused to honor him.
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