The late South Carolina Republican senator Lindsey Graham was a leading voice on foreign policy on Capitol Hill. Not so his sister Darline, who was named to succeed the late lawmaker and is running for a full six-year term with the endorsement of U.S. President Donald Trump.
At a recent debate with Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), whom she is facing in the runoff election for the Republican Senate nomination next week, Sen. Darline Graham (R-S.C.) stumbled over a question on foreign policy.
Graham was asked about Taiwan and the South China Sea. China claims jurisdiction over large swaths of the waterway, as well as the island of Taiwan. The United States has helped increase Taiwan’s defensive capabilities to ward off a possible Chinese invasion.
While Lindsey Graham strongly supported Taiwan’s democratic government, visited it several times and advocated close economic and security ties with the United States, Darline Graham said that she didn’t know enough about the issue to answer the question.
“I’m just going to be honest here,” she said, to gasps from the audience. “I’m not that informed on national security.”
After the debate, Graham said that her constituents were much more concerned about domestic issues.
“They’re worried about their pocketbooks more than they’re worried about the South China Sea, quite honestly,” Graham said. “So that’s going to be my biggest focus.”
Graham finished first in the primary but did not win the majority of the vote needed to avoid a runoff. Trump is scheduled to campaign for her this week.
“My brother was in the Air Force for 33 years, so I will do everything I can to support the military,” she said during the debate. “My dad was in the Army. I’m not a polished politician up here. National security is not my thing, not my area of expertise, but I do support the military.”
