Source: Politics<\/p>\n
South Carolina Sen. Darline Graham has given opponents fresh ammunition to attack her on her biggest vulnerability: her inexperience.<\/p>\n
She revealed a major blindspot in her understanding of a critical foreign policy issue, U.S.-Taiwan relations, during Tuesday’s debate for the Aug. 25 snap Senate primary runoff to replace her late brother Lindsey Graham. Her response spread like wildfire<\/a> on social media, with critics saying it proves she is \u201cunprepared\u201d to take office.<\/p>\n Asked whether Taiwan and the South China Sea are relevant national security priorities, Graham responded: \u201cI’m just going to be honest here \u2026 I’m not that informed on national security, so.\u201d She added that \u201cnational security is not my thing, not my area of expertise, but I do support the military.\u201d<\/p>\n It was a notable acknowledgement from a sitting senator, as tensions rise<\/a> between China and Taiwan \u2014 and as the U.S. preoccupation with the Iran war calls into question how reliable a supporter it might be amid fears of a possible future invasion of Taiwan.<\/p>\n The gaffe exposed the exact weakness that her runoff opponent, GOP Rep. Ralph Norman, has been eager to highlight: the senator\u2019s lack of tenure.<\/p>\n His allies immediately piled on.<\/p>\n Norman supporter and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley wrote in a post on X<\/a> that foreign policy experience is \u201cnot something you inherit\u201d \u2014 a swipe at Graham\u2019s appointment to fulfill her brother\u2019s current term. Ken Cuccinelli, a former Trump administration official, expressed support for Norman,<\/a> writing that Graham has \u201cworked hard to hide any firm positions, and here she is at least being honest.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt very much confirmed many of our suspicions that while she might be a very nice lady, she is woefully underprepared or unprepared to be one of the 100 U.S. Senators in the Senate,\u201d state Rep. Jordan Pace, who is supporting Norman in the runoff, said in an interview.<\/p>\n Norman said in a statement that South Carolinians deserve a senator with \u201cknow-how\u201d on foreign policy: \u201cWhether it\u2019s spy balloons flying overhead or buying up land near South Carolina military bases, China continues to prove that it is a threat to the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n Graham\u2019s campaign, asked to clarify her response on U.S.-Taiwanese relations and her critics\u2019 attacks over her misstep, pointed toward comments she made in the spin room after the debate<\/a>: \u201cWhat’s important are the people of South Carolina. They’re worried about their pocketbooks more than they’re worried about the South China Sea, quite honestly.\u201d<\/p>\n Graham\u2019s answer is also raising eyebrows among some of her own allies, with less than a week before next Tuesday\u2019s election. And it increases the pressure on President Donald Trump, who had championed Graham\u2019s appointment in July, encouraged her to run for a full term and is even planning to rally with her on Friday<\/a> to boost her election chances.<\/p>\n “[Darline] just doesn\u2019t have the experience of executing, you have to be able to deliver a story about herself and right now her story is that she\u2019s Lindsey Graham\u2019s sister,\u201d said a former Trump administration official, granted anonymity to speak openly about private conversations.<\/p>\n The White House is still backing Graham, this person said, because the president had a close relationship with the late senator but also sees her as a better alternative to Norman, who endorsed Haley over Trump in the 2024 Republican presidential primary.<\/p>\n A second person familiar with the White House\u2019s thinking, granted anonymity to speak candidly, said, \u201cPOTUS is still all in on the endorsement.\u201d<\/p>\n The White House declined to comment on Trump\u2019s support for Graham.<\/p>\n