Sen. Darline Graham Nordone thanked US President Donald Trump and invoked the memory of her late brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham, as she addressed supporters on Tuesday night after advancing to the runoff in South Carolina’s Republican Senate primary.
Speaking exactly one month after her brother’s death, Graham described the past several weeks as “absolutely brutal,” as she simultaneously mourned Lindsey Graham, assumed his seat in the US Senate, and launched her first campaign for elected office.
“I want to thank President Trump,” Graham told supporters. “His steadfast support and his complete and total endorsement means so much to me. He knows that I will stand with him and fight for his agenda, just like Lindsey did.”
Graham said she hoped Trump would travel to South Carolina to campaign for her during the two weeks leading up to the runoff, though she said no such appearance had yet been confirmed.
“I’m hopeful that President Trump will come down, but we’ll see,” she told reporters.
Her remarks came shortly after Trump himself praised Graham and said she had called him to thank him for his endorsement.
Graham spoke about her childhood
Graham, who was appointed to fill her brother’s Senate seat following his death, sought Tuesday night to portray herself simultaneously as the guardian of Lindsey Graham’s legacy and as a political outsider with an identity of her own.
“I’m a conservative Republican. I’m not a career politician,” she said. “I know how families are struggling to make ends meet because I’ve been there too.”
‘I never expected it would happen under these circumstances’
Graham repeatedly returned to the story of her childhood with her brother, recalling that the two grew up in a room behind the bar and liquor store operated by their parents.
“That’s where we learned a strong work ethic and the value of $1,” she said. “From a young age, our parents taught us that you’re not given anything in life, and no one owes you anything. If you want something, you work for it.”
Before entering the Senate, Graham said she spent seven years leading a South Carolina agency that assists blind and visually impaired residents in finding employment and becoming more independent.
“I never expected that career of service would lead me to the United States Senate,” she said. “I certainly never expected it would happen under these circumstances.”
Graham touted what she described as an unusually productive first three weeks in Washington, saying she had already helped pass a bipartisan Russia sanctions bill that was particularly important to her brother.
She also highlighted her role as the deciding vote to confirm Trump’s attorney general nominee, Todd Blanche.
“Some politicians never get a major piece of their legislation passed, so I’ve already accomplished more in a few weeks than many do in decades,” Graham said.
Graham described herself as ‘a fighter’
Graham laid out a strongly conservative platform, pledging support for Trump’s immigration agenda, voter identification requirements, abortion restrictions, and Second Amendment rights.
“Joe Biden let 12 million illegal immigrants into this country,” she said. “President Trump and I are going to walk them right back out.”
She also declared that “boys have no place in girls’ sports, especially not in the locker room,” and joked about criticism of her lack of political experience.
“I’ve been accused of not being a politician,” she said. “Guilty as charged.”
Graham said she would spend virtually every day of the coming runoff campaign traveling throughout South Carolina and meeting voters.
“This seat belongs to the people of South Carolina, and I will work hard to earn your vote,” she said.
Asked about facing Rep. Ralph Norman in a debate, Graham said she had not previously heard about the proposed Monday event but was prepared to participate.
“I’ll be willing to debate him. Yes,” she said.
‘I have buried my precious brother – and I’m still standing’
One month after Lindsey Graham’s death, his sister is ‘still standing’
The most personal moment of the night came when Graham was asked how she had handled the whirlwind month since her brother’s death.
“Today is the 11th. My brother passed one month ago today, so none of this has been comfortable for me,” she said. “But like I said, I’m a fighter.”
“I have buried my precious brother. I have taken on the role of a United States senator, and I have had this brutal campaign schedule. And I’m still standing. If that doesn’t tell you I’m a strong person and a fighter, nothing will.”
Graham acknowledged that the demands of the Senate and the campaign had left her with little opportunity to fully grieve.
“I have not had a whole lot of time to process it,” she said. “I’ve had my moments. They typically come early in the morning, before my day gets started, and late at night when I go to bed.”
Asked what she believed Lindsey Graham would say to her if the two could speak privately at that moment, she paused on the memory of her brother.
“I think a lot about what I would say to him and what he would say,” Graham said. “Right now, I think he would be very proud.”
