President Donald Trump urged Sen. Darline Graham (R-South Carolina), the sister of the late senator Lindsey Graham, to run for a full Senate term.
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Graham was sworn into the Senate on Tuesday after being appointed by South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) to fill the final months of her brother’s term. She has not said whether she plans to run for a full six-year term.
Trump said Friday that he met with Graham in the Oval Office and urged her to run in the special election.
“I hope Darline does this, in that there would be nobody better to honor the legacy of her beloved brother, Lindsey,” Trump wrote on social media.
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Graham will need to make a decision relatively quickly. The filing period for the Aug. 11 primary opens Tuesday. The primary will go to a runoff on Aug. 25 if no candidate wins a majority of the vote.
Trump’s endorsement is a shift from earlier this week, when he said he expected Graham to serve “only on an interim basis” and suggested that Rep. Russell Fry (R-South Carolina) could run for the full term.
“I think Russell Fry, a young congressman, is outstanding and that could happen,” Trump told Newsmax on Monday. “I could see that happening. I think he’s a very talented person.”
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