President Donald Trump is again gushing about Lindsey Graham’s senator sister, Darline Graham, this time as she shifts away from one of her brother’s core tenets.
During the Republican South Carolina Senate debate ahead of her primary election, Graham made it clear that she was in favor of getting rid of the filibuster if that meant the Senate could pass Trump’s preferred voting legislation.
The president, who has endorsed her in the primary, gave her a glowing review just hours later.
“It was my Honor to welcome now Senator Darline Graham Nordone (The sister of the Late, Great Lindsey Graham!), from the Wonderful State of South Carolina, into the Oval Office,” he gushed on Truth Social, seemingly referencing a meeting the pair had last month.
“We have known each other for a long time—she is a spectacular person, and a true American Patriot,” he continued. “Lindsey was one of the greatest people and Senators I have ever known, and his sister shares his deep love of our Country, and the State of South Carolina.”
He reiterated that she has his “Complete and Total Endorsement” in the race.
His review of Graham came just hours after she broke away from her brother and voiced her support for doing away with the Senate filibuster to pass MAGA’s doomed voter legislation, the SAVE America Act.
“And I am all for—this is where I differ from my brother—getting rid of the filibuster to get this done, because eventually the Democrats are going to get rid of it anyway,” she asserted.
Her primary opponents—Republican Reps. Ralph Norman, who voted against certifying the 2020 election, and Russell Fry—have both said they would also get rid of the filibuster if elected.
She has also expressed strong support for the legislation, making it the first bill she co-sponsored upon being sworn into the Senate. In its current form, the SAVE America Act would require all states to mandate voters show ID and proof of citizenship to vote.
“The American people are demanding immediate action from Congress on election integrity. That’s why the SAVE America Act is the first bill I am cosponsoring in the Senate,” she proclaimed in a statement.
U.S. citizenship is already a requirement to vote, and cases of noncitizen voting are very rare.
While Darline Graham’s brother was a staunch supporter of the SAVE America Act, he was not in favor of getting rid of the filibuster, resisting the president’s repeated calls to “nuke” it. He consistently defended keeping the legislative filibuster, even while admitting it could hinder Trump’s agenda.
“Filibuster changes, I think, change the Senate,” he said earlier this year. “It may happen one day, but I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
Trump has repeatedly put pressure on Senate Republicans to scrap the filibuster so that the SAVE America Act, which does not have the required 60 votes in the upper chamber to pass, would require only a simple majority.
But Senate Majority Leader John Thune has repeatedly told Trump there is not enough support in the Senate for either of his demands: to pass the SAVE America Act or to eliminate the filibuster.
