If Horry County voters return Sen. Lindsey Graham to the U.S. Senate, most will be voting against their own interests and the interests of South Carolina.
As President Trump’s chief apologist in the Senate – after viciously criticizing him in the 2016 Republican presidential primary – Graham now is a leading proponent of Trump administration policies that are harmful to everyday South Carolina residents, said HCDP Chair Don Kohn.
“How can Graham support Trump and the people of South Carolina at the same time? He can’t,” declared Kohn in a statement issued in response to Graham’s formal announcement as a candidate for re-election today in Myrtle Beach and Greenville March 30. “Everything Trump wants to do, by far the majority of his initiatives, are contrary to the best interests of low-income South Carolinians, seniors, people of color, immigrants – virtually anybody who is not a wealthy American.”
“Just this past weekend, Graham played golf with the President at Mar-a-Lago and reportedly urged Trump to push Republican health care legislation to replace the Affordable Care Act, which has been a target of both Trump and Graham,” said Kohn. “This came as Trump’s attorney general went to court to dismantle the entire ACA and wipe out coverage for more than 20 million Americans, even though there is nothing to replace it.”
“I guess you could say Graham is Trump’s ‘golf whisperer,’ but with tragic results.”
Kohn said Graham’s continued support for policies that cut Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, along with support for offshore seismic testing and possibly drilling,means that he believes being loyal to Trump to get re-elected is more important to him than the wellbeing of South Carolinians. Lindsey Graham is not representing all of the people in South Carolina, the HCDP chair declared.
“Like Trump,” said Kohn, “Senator Graham is simply appeasing his base for his own political purposes.”
Also, like Trump, Kohn added, Graham continues to ignore the tragic mass shooting deaths that have occurred so often in America, including at schools and the 2015 slaying of nine worshippers at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston.
“Sen. Graham has not advocated for background check legislation that could have prevented the killer, Dylan Root, from obtaining the weapon used in that massacre,” said Kohn. “He has not supported a ban on assault and other automatic weapons or other reasonable gun safety measures.”
While he has not yet formally announced, former state Democratic Chair Jamie Harrison appears to be preparing to take on Graham, noted Kohn.
Harrison announced an “exploratory committee” in February as an initial step towards challenging the 24-year incumbent. He is an associate chairman with the Democratic National Committee with a mandate to develop the party’s strategy for winning elections across the South and in rural districts.
