US President Donald Trump embraces Republican US Senate candidate Darline Graham during a rally ahead of the midterm elections, at T. Ed Garrison Arena at Clemson University in Pendleton, South Carolina, US, October 21, 2026. REUTERS/Umit Bektas
President Donald Trump made a “needless error” that blew up in his face Tuesday night, according to one columnist.
After the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) died in July, South Carolina’s governor appointed his sister, Darline Graham Nordone, to fill the seat. Trump then endorsed her in the special GOP primary over Rep. Ralph Norman, helping her win the nomination. That decision likely cost Republicans the seat, argued Jamelle Bouie of The New York Times.
“The choice to elevate Darline Graham was just a huge, needless error,” Bouie wrote in the outlet’s roundtable on the midterm results. “And it’s good evidence that Trump’s political instincts are not that strong.”
Graham lost to Democrat Annie Andrews, a pediatrician and first-time Senate candidate, NBC News and Decision Desk HQ projected, sending shockwaves through the political world. Trump campaigned in the state three times ahead of Tuesday’s election, and the effort wasn’t enough to stop Andrews.
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