Sen. Darline Graham (R-SC) may have turned an apparent debate stumble into a calculated campaign moment when she conceded that “national security is not my thing,” according to one South Carolina political observer tracking the fallout.
The remark, delivered Wednesday night during the only debate in the Senate Republican runoff, came as Graham answered a question about Taiwan and the South China Sea. To some viewers, it carried the feel of a Joe Biden-style debate breakdown.
Yet several political insiders believe the moment may have been intentional — a way for Graham to draw a sharp contrast with her runoff opponent, Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.).
At the very least, Graham has folded the exchange into her closing argument ahead of Tuesday’s runoff election for the Senate seat long held by her brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham, who died last month at age 71.
“It might have been a strategic choice to try to get sympathy,” one South Carolina GOP operative told The Post.
Rather than retreat from the comment, Graham leaned into it. Her campaign has used the episode to present her as more relatable to voters while portraying Norman, a two-decade veteran of elected office, as an entrenched insider and “career politician.”
Still, Graham is hardly running as a political outsider in every respect. Appointed to the seat last month by Gov. Henry McMaster, she has benefited from her late brother’s powerful political network as well as millions of dollars in outside spending.
One outside group, the Invest in Tomorrow Coalition, has spent more than $1 million attacking Norman over his role in creating a pro-solar power coalition in 2018 and his later push to eliminate 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.
