{"id":7126,"date":"2026-08-21T23:07:23","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T23:07:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=7126"},"modified":"2026-08-21T23:07:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T23:07:23","slug":"trump-backs-honest-sc-sen-darline-graham-after-national-security-debate-flop-shes-very-smart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=7126","title":{"rendered":"Trump backs ‘honest’ SC Sen. Darline Graham after national security debate flop: ‘She’s very smart’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 President Trump defended Sen. Darline Graham as he traveled to South Carolina Friday in an attempt to rescue her campaign after she stunningly said at a debate this week that \u201cI\u2019m not that informed on national security.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cAll she was is being honest. She\u2019s very smart, and she was being honest,\u201d Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews as he traveled to Myrtle Beach for an evening rally on Graham\u2019s behalf ahead of her Aug. 25 Senate primary runoff against Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC).<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, she\u2019s into the price of groceries, the price of food, the price of beef, and it\u2019s not \u2014 it hasn\u2019t been her thing, but she\u2019s surrounded by very good people, and she said that she\u2019s totally for the military.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump added: \u201cI mean, she\u2019s going to do what the military wants and really what the president wants. She understands that national security is my thing, and she is a terrific woman.\u201d<\/p>\n

Graham was appointed to her late brother Lindsey\u2019s Senate seat \u2014 at Trump\u2019s urging \u2014 on July 14 by South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, but is at risk of losing the Republican nomination for a full six-year term in the aftermath of her weak debate performance.<\/p>\n

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She received 32.7% of the vote in the initial primary round of voting on Aug. 11, with Norman taking 24.6% and Rep. Russell Fry (R-SC) coming in third with 19.7%.<\/p>\n

The northeast of the state \u2014 where Trump is visiting \u2014 voted heavily for Fry in the first round, in theory making his supporters crucial to the outcome of the second round.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Graham stumbled on stage when she was asked about the relevance of Taiwan and the South China Sea to US national security.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not that informed on national security \u2014 so,\u201d she replied. \u201cNational security is not my thing, not my area of expertise, but I do support the military.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Exclusive | Kim Zolciak speaks out on 15-year-old son KJ Biermann\u2019s \u2018deeply troubling\u2019 arrest for sodomy and sexual battery<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Trump defended Sen. Darline Graham as he traveled to South Carolina Friday in an attempt to rescue her campaign after she stunningly said at a debate this week that “I’m not that informed on national security.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7125,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nTrump backs 'honest' SC Sen. 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