Trump says his 2nd visit to SC in 2 weeks is part of his fight against the odds

ROCK HILL — Acknowledging his “raspy voice” after dozens of recent rallies, President Donald Trump told thousands of supporters in South Carolina he’s powering through on a quest to beat the midterm odds.

Trump once again asked rallygoers to “pretend that I’m on the ballot,” because when he is, “more people show up” to vote. But in nonpresidential elections, historically — in 20 of the last 22 midterms — the party of the president loses seats. He’s determined to make 2026 another outlier.

“It doesn’t make sense. Even if you’re a great president, it doesn’t matter,” Trump told the crowd inside the Rock Hill Sports & Event Center. “The one thing I can say is that no president has ever worked so hard to win a midterm.

“We are all working hard. Every one of us. Tim’s been following me around all over the place,” he said, referring to South Carolina’s senior U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, chair of the committee dedicated to electing Republicans to the upper chamber, who was in the front row.

The event near Winthrop University marked his second visit to South Carolina in two weeks to bolster support for U.S. Sen. Darline Graham in the normally reliably red state.

“I had to come here too,” he said, recognizing it’s his third visit for Graham. The first was in August ahead of her win over U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman in the special GOP runoff to replace her late brother Lindsey Graham on the ballot.

Appointed to fulfill the rest of his fourth term, Darline Graham joined the contest for the next term at Trump’s encouragement.

“I got you into this thing,” Trump said to her from the stage. “Your brother’s looking down. He’s gonna be Tuesday night. Let’s make Lindsey really happy and proud.”

Polls have shown Graham’s race with Democrat Annie Andrews growing increasingly tight. Some show a statistical tie.

Trump dismissed polls generally as “fake” and “phony,” asking the audience, “How many people in this room were ever polled? I mean, seriously, raise your hand because I’m curious.”

Yet he also told the crowd not to make assumptions that Republicans will win: “Every single person here has to get out and vote. … We’ve got to make sure everything works out.”

Trump rallies support for Graham in pre-election visit to deeply red Upstate

He rattled off the names of Republican nominees at the event.

The local congressman was notably absent.

Trump never said Norman’s name. But the rally was held in the 5th District congressman’s hometown. Norman has said he’ll vote for Graham, since he swore to vote for the GOP nominee, but his entire family won’t. He’s openly criticized Trump for getting involved in the primary. And he refuses to help Graham.

But Graham needs Norman’s backers in the county he won by almost 28 percentage points to come out and vote for her. York County was among the 12 counties Norman won in the runoff. He took the entire northwest corner around Clemson University, where Trump rallied last week.

GOP gubernatorial nominee Alan Wilson, the state’s attorney general since 2010, used part of his time on stage to again call for unity following the GOP’s extended primaries.

He likened primaries to “big family arguments.” Noting Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming up, he said, “while we all have those family members that we don’t always like or we don’t always agree with, if we saw someone attacking them, attacking our family, we back them up.”

He acknowledged not being the primary choice of everyone in the audience either. Wilson defeated Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette in a runoff. Norman placed third in the gubernatorial primary.

“I’m here today to say ‘thank you.’ Now I’m asking you one other thing, I’m asking you to get Darline Graham’s back,” Wilson said, calling her “one of us.”

Trump likened her to “apple pie.”

Trump supporters who drove from other areas of the state for the rally included Dean Johnson.

The 66-year-old retired Sumter resident said he voted for Norman in the primary. But he had no problem backing Graham in this election. He’s already cast a ballot for her in early voting.

“Darline won fair and square,” said Johnson, attending his second Trump rally. “I just ask people to look at the bigger picture, and if you want positive things for our country to continue as they are, to come out and vote for Darline.”

Ann Ballentine, 85, of Chapin, said she came to Rock Hill to show support for both Trump and Graham.

She said she liked Graham’s brother and believes she will carry on his work.

“I hope she will do just as well as he did. I think she knows his philosophy, and she’s a conservative, and I am too,” Ballentine said.

Throughout the rally Republicans, including Trump and Graham, characterized Andrews as a radical liberal.

“Like they say out in the country, she’s just plain batshit crazy,” Graham said. “I will not allow the socialists and liberals to turn South Carolina blue. They can just kiss my ass.”

But Andrews describes herself as “public school mom” and a pediatrician who’s willing to criticize people in her party and policies she disagrees with.

“I don’t know what’s so radical about thinking every county in South Carolina should have an OB-GYN or thinking that hardworking South Carolina families shouldn’t have to worry about putting food on the table, paying for their prescription drugs, and that if you’re sick in South Carolina, that you should be able to afford to see a doctor and be able to find a doctor in your community,” she told reporters last week when asked to respond to Trump’s accusations. “I don’t know what’s so radical about all that.”

York County Democrats organized events before and after Trump’s visit.

On Wednesday night, Andrews rallied in Rock Hill. Hours after the Trump event, Rep. Jermaine Johnson, the Democratic nominee for governor, rallied alongside Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett in an auditorium less than 2 miles from Trump’s event.

Early voting runs through Saturday, and Election Day is on Tuesday.