Sen. Darline Graham (R-SC) may have been crazy like a fox when she delivered what looked like an epic debate flub when she admitted “national security is not my thing,” said one state expert who has been watching the fallout.
The comment had shades of a Joe Biden-style collapse when she uttered it Wednesday night in response to a question about Taiwan and the South China Sea during the only debate in the Senate Republican runoff race.
But some political pros say it was a designed ploy to separate herself from her opponent Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.).
At a minimum, it is something she is incorporating into her final pitch before Tuesday’s runoff election to fill the seat long held by her brother Sen. Lindsey Graham, who died last month at 71.
“It might have been a strategic choice to try to get sympathy,” one state GOP operative told The Post.
Graham doubled down on the comment after she made it, and has been using the incident to try to make herself relatable while trying to try to cast rival Norman, who has spent two decades in elective office, as an insider and “career politician.”
But Graham, who was appointed to fill the seat by Gov. Henry McMaster last month, is benefitting from her late brother’s political machine and millions in spending from outside groups.
The Invest in Tomorrow Coalition, has spent more than $1 million hammering Norman for setting up a pro-solar power coalition in 2018 and then later leading an effort to kill federal subsidies in the One Big Beautiful Bill.
The group also spent heavily against Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.), who lost his primary.
Another group, the Security is Strength PAC, which is linked to her brother, poured $1.5 million into the race and put out a mailer calling Norman a “MAGA traitor.”
Norman has been mostly pulling punches in the mail and on air, saying he appreciates what Graham is going through after the loss of her brother.
“A lot of money spent against him, but that debate thing hurt her,” said one state GOP source, who called the debate flub “catastrophic” and that it would make older voters “cringe.”
President Trump, who was pals with Lindsey Graham, flew to Myrtle Beach Friday to try to pull Darline Graham across the line, asking voters to “pretend” he was on the ballot himself.
“I watched that. I thought it was a very honest answer, actually,” he told reporters while en route. “She said that she’s totally for the military. She’s going to do what the military wants, and really what the president wants,” he added.
But Norman — who endorsed former Gov. Nikki Haley in 2023, angering Trump, and later pulled his own endorsement — got backup Friday from former Gov. Mark Sanford, who famously vanished for four days during his 2009 term, claiming he was hiking the Appalachian Trail when he was actually in Argentina with his then-mistress.
“So as much as I would like to honor tradition and old friendships, the stakes are simply too high as our nation really is at a financial tipping point,” Sanford posted Friday on X, writing that he was “freaked” about the nation’s growing $40 trillion debt.
His nod comes despite Sanford’s close ties to Graham, whom he has known for years. Sanford, a former House member, came to Congress with Lindsey in 1994 and Graham is godfather to Sanford’s youngest child.
