President Donald Trump is rallying in South Carolina for a second time this month in the final days of the midterm campaign.
Trump will appear in Rock Hill, which is south of Charlotte and near the North Carolina border, to shore up support for Sen. Darline Graham in South Carolina, Michael Whatley in North Carolina and other republican candidates.
“She’s doing well,” Trump told reporters Wednesday. “She’s up.”
In the historically red state, the race between Graham and Democratic nominee Annie Andrews has shown to be more competitive. A recent NYT/Sienna poll found the race was a toss-up at around 48% each, though other recent surveys have shown Graham with an advantage.
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Trump has spent both time and money supporting Graham in the general election and Republican primary following the death of her brother, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham. Darline Graham has expressed support for Trump, though some difference emerged following the President’s decision to waive sanctions against Russia in legislation that was championed by her brother.
“This is a state that President Trump has carried three times. This is a state that supports his agenda, supports the president and his accomplishments from tax cuts to border security to safe communities, backing the blue, made in America investment boom,” said an RNC official, pointing to a “stark contrast on the ballot between, you know, a common sense conservative Darlene Graham and a really radical Democrat Annie Andrews.”
The president believes his rallies are helping boost Republican enthusiasm and support for candidates he’s backing, as he implores supporters to turn out.
“Republicans are taking nothing for granted. We are getting out the vote every single day in every single state to make sure that the president is able to maintain the Republican majorities in the House and the Senate,” the official said. “There is no one that turns out voters like President Trump. And to be able to barnstorm the country like this really shows the difference in the energy between, or the difference in the energy that we're seeing on the Republican side versus on the Democrat side.”
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However, Democrats believe Andrews is in a strong position in the homestretch.
”Annie Andrews is running an incredibly formidable campaign against Darline Graham, a weak candidate whose campaign has been defined by embarrassing gaffes and full-throated support for the policies spiking the cost of gas, groceries, and health care for South Carolinians,” said Monica Robinson, DSCC Spokesperson. “Annie has made this race competitive and is in a strong position heading into the final stretch, while the GOP scrambles to prop up struggling, second-rate candidates as their disastrous agenda continues raising costs and hurting voters across the map.”
Meanwhile in North Carolina, former RNC chair Michael Whatley has trailed in polling against former governor Roy Cooper for the state’s U.S. Senate seat. Republicans acknowledge tight races in the state, according to a Republican official, but believe the president and vice president’s visits to the state are helping boost turnout.
Trump is expected to hold more rallies in Florida, Kansas and Iowa in the days ahead.
