Donald Trump’s former White House press secretary has predicted that the president’s choice for Senate in South Carolina will lose Tuesday night’s Republican primary.
Sean Spicer, who served in the Trump administration for the first six months of the president’s first term, said on The Huddle that Rep. Ralph Norman “is going to come out ahead” of Sen. Darline Graham. Trump, 80, endorsed Graham, who is running for a full term after being appointed to replace her brother following his death in July. Even with the president’s involvement, polls show the race is close.
Spicer, citing a Trafalgar poll showing Graham, 62, and Norman, 73, essentially tied at just under 48 percent, commented that it was not a good sign that Graham hadn’t surpassed 50 percent, considering all that has been done for her campaign.
“They’ve thrown everything at it. There’s a story in Politico this morning that they’ve spent almost a million dollars on texts, on ‘get out the vote,’” Spicer, 54, said. South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott appeared on Fox News’ Hannity on Monday night to try to lock up support, Spicer mentioned, and Trump flew to South Carolina last week and held a rally with Graham.
“They’ve thrown the kitchen sink, the trash compactor, the faucets—they’ve thrown everything at this race,” Spicer said. “I will say, I think Ralph Norman’s going to come out ahead tonight.”
If that’s the case, it may be due in part to some hiccups in Graham’s campaign.
When asked during a debate against Norman last Tuesday whether Taiwan and the South China Sea were national security issues for the U.S., Graham said, “I’m just going to be honest here... I’m not that informed on national security.”
She added: “I’m not a polished politician up here. National security is not my thing, not my area of expertise, but I support the military.”
Nevertheless, Graham was booed.
Then over the weekend, Graham took issue with a constituent recording their conversation at a campaign event, even though South Carolina is a one-party consent state.
“Is your phone recording this?” Darline asked the woman, who responded, “Yes, because, I mean, this is a political event. There’s always phones recording. So, you’re a politician. You know the drill.”
Darline answered, “It kind of does bother me that you’re recording me—I’m being honest—without my permission.” A staffer then ended the conversation between the two women.
And on the eve of Tuesday’s primary, Graham refused to acknowledge that Trump lost the 2020 election.
“Senator, you just mentioned that you agree with your brother on everything except for one matter, that being illegal immigration; you’d go farther than him on that,” MS NOW congressional reporter Mychael Schnell told Graham. “That being said, I’m curious, do you agree with him about the 2020 election, that Joe Biden was certified the winner of that election, was lawfully elected, and that you would’ve voted to certify the election as your brother did?”
Graham skirted the question, saying, “I think our election system is broken.” She ignored a follow-up question.
