Trump Brings Holyfield to Clemson to Keep Lindsey Graham's Seat Red

President Trump flew to South Carolina on Wednesday night to rally for Sen. Darline Graham, the younger sister of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, who is running to keep her brother's seat for a full six-year term. He brought boxing legend Evander Holyfield along for the ride, the New York Post reported, and spoke for about 90 minutes in a dirt-floored livestock arena run by Clemson University in Pendleton.

Graham was appointed to the seat after her brother's death this year and won the Republican nomination in an August runoff against Rep. Ralph Norman, with Trump's backing. Election Day is Nov. 3. Her opponent is Democrat Annie Andrews, a pediatrician.

Why Trump came to a state he won by 18

Presidents don't usually hold midterm rallies in South Carolina. They don't have to. Trump carried it by about 18 points in 2024. But Graham leads Andrews by just 2.7 points in the RealClearPolling average, the Daily Signal reported, while Republican Alan Wilson holds about a 10-point lead in the governor's race on the same ballot.

Republicans say the gap is about their own voters staying home, not a Democratic wave. Many Upstate conservatives wanted Norman, who carried Greenville County every time he was on the ballot this year, and a write-in campaign for him has popped up. Greenville alone supplies about one in ten Republican votes statewide. Think of a home team with a sold-out stadium where half the season-ticket holders are still sulking about the coaching hire. Trump came to fill the seats.

"He's trying to make sure those conservatives come home to the Republican Party rather than staying home," John Mace McGrath, the Berkeley County Republican chairman, told the Daily Signal. Norman has said he isn't behind the write-in effort and will vote for Graham himself.

Graham: "Y'all, this is close"

Graham warmed up the crowd before Trump arrived and didn't sugarcoat it. "Y'all, this is close," she said, according to the Post and Courier. She pointed to her votes for Trump's voter ID bill and for pro-life legislation. "Simply put, I've done more to preserve South Carolina's conservative values in three months than Annie Andrews would do in six years," she said. Of her opponent: "There's no lie that woman won't tell."

Trump goes after Andrews

Trump spent much of his speech on Andrews, calling her a "radical left lunatic" who "would be the most extreme and crazy left wing politician ever elected in this state" (transcript). "[She] advocates giving puberty blockers to young children, and even supports giving sex toys and other obscene materials to … seriously confuse young people and children," he said. He also called her "a rabid advocate for taxpayer funded child sexual mutilation."

Andrews is now running as a moderate. Local Republicans say her record doesn't match. "She's 100% pro-choice without exceptions. She says that parents having a say in their kids' education is 'bull[----],'" McGrath said. "She is the most liberal candidate they've ever nominated."

Trump also pitched his plan for a $5,000 payment to every American if Republicans keep Congress, and drew applause for his tax cuts and the drop in illegal crossings at the southern border, the Post reported.

The hecklers, and the "Real Deal"

The night was interrupted by at least 12 hecklers, the Post counted, and Trump said they kept landing on his best lines. "It's always right at my punchline," Trump said. "I've had three punchlines and three of them -- they time them beautifully" (transcript).

One screaming protester near the stage got punched by an older rallygoer before deputies hauled him out. Trump stopped to take it in. "Who's the guy that threw the punch? You are? You know, you reminded me of Evander 'The Real Deal' Holyfield that way," he said. Holyfield was in the building. Of the protester, Trump added: "They don't realize it's really dangerous to do that. … It takes courage to do that at a Trump rally" (transcript).

What's next

South Carolina Republicans are betting that once Upstate conservatives compare her with Andrews, they come home, the way they did for her brother in 2020, when close polls turned into a comfortable win. "Polls were close when Sen. Lindsey Graham ran against Jamie Harrison at this point too, and then he ended up winning by a historic margin," said Tyson Grinstead, South Carolina's Republican national committeeman.

Trump heads to Iowa, Florida, Georgia, Michigan and Texas over the next several days. In South Carolina, the math is simple: if the people who packed that arena vote, the seat stays red.