Trump urges South Carolina voters to treat him as if on ballot in Senate runoff
At a rally in South Carolina, Donald Trump asked supporters to vote for Sen. Darline Graham and other Republicans by imagining he were on the ballot, despite his own absence from the race.
President Donald Trump addressed a crowd in South Carolina on Friday, urging Republican voters to support Sen. Darline Graham in Tuesday’s Senate GOP runoff and to treat his own name as if it appeared on the ballot. Trump said the party’s turnout suffers when he is not listed, adding, "The problem that we have is, they say that Trump does great when he’s on the ballot, but when he’s not on the ballot, his people don’t come and they don’t vote for senators, congressmen, and other Republicans." He asked attendees to "pretend, please, that I’m on the ballot" and to vote accordingly, emphasizing that "Our country’s on the ballot" as well. The appeal came after six Trump-endorsed candidates failed to secure Republican nominations for House or governor races earlier this month. While Trump backed Graham for a full six-year term, she did not win a majority in the initial primary, and some rally participants expressed lingering doubts about her after a recent debate. Trump’s remarks did not mention GOP Rep. Ralph Norman, the other candidate officially on the ballot in the runoff.