Sen. Darline Graham and Rep. Ralph Norman traded criticism over experience, ambition, campaign finance and policy positions in a Senate primary debate Tuesday in South Carolina, one week before Republican primary voters choose a nominee to replace Graham\u2019s brother, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, on the ballot this fall.<\/p>\n
While Graham, a political newcomer, went on the attack against Norman, her thin r\u00e9sum\u00e9 took center stage in the historic Newberry Opera House on several occasions throughout the debate, including when a question about Taiwan, the South China Sea and American security interests came up.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just going to be honest here \u2014 I\u2019m not on national security,\u201d Graham said. \u201cI\u2019m not that informed on national security, but I do support the military.\u201d<\/p>\n
She followed her short answer by saying, \u201cNational security is not my thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lindsey Graham was known as a staunch foreign policy hawk during his Senate tenure, marked by his support for Ukraine and Israel and his aggressive push to increase pressure on Iran. Graham had long advocated for military strikes against Iran and spoke in favor of the Iran war after it began this year.<\/p>\n
In a Fox News interview that aired July 20, Darline Graham \u2014 who never held office before she was appointed to the Senate last month, days after her brother died suddenly \u2014 emphasized that the main difference between her and her brother is that she would focus on issues that matter to \u201cthe average person,\u201d not foreign policy.<\/p>\n
Similarly, in response to questions about foreign policy topics brought up throughout the debate \u2014 including Iran, regulations on China and the growing tensions in the South China Sea \u2014 Graham fell back on President Donald Trump\u2019s stance, saying her positions align with his. Trump has endorsed Graham for a full term.<\/p>\n
\u201cI fully trust President Trump when it comes to the war in Iran,\u201d Graham said, adding: \u201cIran is the weakest they have been in 47 years. The one thing that concerns me is we cannot let them get a nuclear weapon. So I trust President Trump and everything he\u2019s doing. I think he\u2019s got this, and I trust him on it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Norman threaded his answers throughout the debate with the message that he is not the Republican establishment\u2019s candidate and tried to paint Graham as exactly that.<\/p>\n
\u201cWashington is with her,\u201d Norman said. \u201cThey\u2019re not with me, nor do I want them. I\u2019ve never been subservient to anything in Washington. Washington is broken.\u201d<\/p>\n
Graham quickly turned the attention back on Norman and his failed campaign for governor.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think you\u2019re confused, because I don\u2019t know if you want to be in South Carolina or Washington, because you said you wanted to go to Washington to clean up the swamp, then you wanted to come back to South Carolina to run for governor, now you want to go back to Washington again to clean up the swamp \u2014 so what is it you want to do?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Graham and Norman finished first and second in the special primary last week, triggering a runoff next week since no one got a majority of the vote. The Republican nominee will face Democrat Annie Andrews in the fall. Lindsey Graham had previously won the regularly scheduled primary for the seat.<\/p>\n
Despite their back-and-forth attacks, the two came to agreement on several issues throughout the debate. Both said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the medical adviser to Trump during the Covid pandemic, should be in jail following his testimony before a Senate committee in Washington at which he invoked the Fifth Amendment.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe ought to be in an orange jumpsuit,\u201d Norman said.<\/p>\n