Supporters of losing Republican candidate Ralph Norman soundly booed President Donald Trump during a fiery concession speech.
Senator Darline Graham, 62, pulled off a victory in the South Carolina Republican special primary runoff on Tuesday after Trump went all in to avoid a humiliating loss, including hosting a rally for her in person last week and repeatedly urging his Truth Social followers to vote for her.
The president posted on Truth Social at 8:44 p.m., declaring, “Darline Graham Wins! Endorsed by President Trump.” Graham scored 52.5 percent of the votes to Norman’s 47.6 percent, according to the Associated Press.
Graham was appointed to the Senate after the sudden death last month of her brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham, at age 71, but had to fight a primary to contest a full six-year term. She told supporters in her victory speech, “Our victory would not have been possible without you. South Carolina truly is Trump Country.”
However, the mood in Norman’s camp was starkly different. The 73-year-old took the stage in a concession speech where he made his feelings on the president’s intervention clear.
He started by saying he had not prepared a concession speech, adding that he believed a loss “was not in the cards.” The audience cheered when Graham said of the result, “I hate it for the state.”
“But you know, the president got involved. He has that right. That’s his prerogative,” Norman continued.
At that point, loud boos rang out from the assembled crowd.
“Well y’all, his policies are good,” Norman said of Trump. “I never understood why he got in this race… but it is what it is, and I’ll accept it… Something good will come out of this. I don’t know what it is, but something good will come out of it. We’ll move on... but we could have broken the chain of so many things in a good way.”
“I don’t like it, but I’ll accept it,” he said.
Norman told his supporters Graham’s win is good news for Democrats, saying “They got what they wanted.”
Norman also referenced $8 million in PAC money that had been spent against his campaign, adding, “I couldn’t come up with that much money. All of our money came from South Carolina and from my personal account.”
He also lost the Republican gubernatorial primary on June 23.
“I will support her, Darline, as best I can,” Norman said at the end of his speech.
There were some laughs coming from the audience as Norman stumbled over her name, with his wife Elaine pulling a face when her husband mentioned the winning candidate, shouting out what appeared to be “Whatever her last name is!” from the podium.
Norman also said his next role “won’t be in the political arena.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
Trump pushed for Graham to run for a full six-year term despite her having zero experience in elected office.
That lack of experience was on display last week when she fumbled a question on a debate stage for the runoff last week.
“National security is not my thing,” Graham said when asked about Taiwan and the South China Sea, with her response being greeted by boos.
On Monday, when asked how she was getting caught up on the issue of national security, Graham claimed that not one person she has spoken to had brought up the subject on her travels around the state.
