Trump Seeks Support for Endorsed Candidate in South Carolina Senate Runoff

Kevin Lamarque/Reuters Donald Trump is desperately groveling for Republicans to back his endorsed candidate in the South Carolina Senate race to avoid another high-profile defeat, it has been revealed.

The president had faced criticism from his base for his backing Darlene Graham , the sister of late Sen.

Lindsey Graham, in the GOP South Carolina Senate primary because of her complete lack of political experience and MAGA credentials.

On Tuesday, Graham advanced to a runoff alongside Rep.

Ralph Norman because neither candidate secured 50 percent of the vote in the primary.

After it was confirmed that Graham had not won the race outright, Trump immediately began trying to butter up other South Carolina Republicans to get them to back his chosen candidate, The Washington Post reported.

Trump was so panicked that he even called former South Carolina governor and congressman Mark Sanford, who has been a vocal critic of the president for years.

Trump rang Sanford—dubbed the “Love Guv” after admitting to an extramarital affair while serving as South Carolina’s governor in 2009—on Tuesday night to try to get him to endorse Graham over Norman ahead of the August 25 runoff.

Trump did not press Sanford too hard during the brief call, sources told the Post.

Sanford informed him that he had not made a decision and might not back either candidate in the runoff.

Sanford lost his House re-election primary in 2018 after speaking out against Trump during his first term.

He launched a long-shot bid in the 2020 Republican presidential primary against incumbent Trump.

Trump also called Rep.

Russell Fry, a Trump ally who came in third in the primary and still has not endorsed Graham or Norman in the runoff, to try to convince him to back the president’s candidate.