Trump's Trials - South Carolina Republicans vote in special U.S. Senate primary runoff

Episode Date: August 25, 2026

South Carolina Republicans return to the polls for a runoff between Sen. Darline Graham and Rep. Ralph Norman. The race will determine which Republican is on the general election ballot in November.Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

It's Trump's terms from NPR. I'm Scott Detrow. Every episode, we bring you a story from NPR's recent coverage of the 47th president, with a focus on ways he's using power like no president before him. Here is the latest from NPR. From NPR news, I'm Lela Falded. The South Carolina race to succeed the late U.S. Senator Lindsay Graham sees another election day today. Neither Senator Darlene Graham nor Congressman Ralph Norman won enough of

two weeks ago to avoid this runoff. Gavin Jackson with South Carolina Public Radio reports. It's been about a month and a half since Senator Lindsey Graham died from a heart condition, and since then, his sister Darlene was appointed to serve the remainder of his term. She's also launched her own bid at President Trump's urging, taking key votes in the Senate, and navigated scrutiny. She's admitted that she's out of her depth when it comes to national security as she seeks to continue her brother's legacy. But she wants to focus on issues closer to home. The critics say I shouldn't run for the Senate. They say I'm not a politician.

You know what I say? Guilty as charged. And by the way, President Trump had never served in an elected office before. And I think he's done a damn good job. Trump doubled down and rallied in front of thousands for Graham and Myrtle Beach last week. and now he's going all in. In the last hours of the campaign, Trump's Super PAC MAGA Inc spent

more than $827,000 on get-out-the-vote phone calls and text messages for Graham. They say again that Trump gets a lot of votes, but if he's not on the ballot, people don't vote so much. I am on the ballot. We're all on the ballot.

Our country's on the ballot. You have to get out. You have to vote. Myrtle Beach is in Ory County, a must-win county, where Graham placed second to Congressman Russell Fry's two weeks ago in the special election. Fry has since endorsed Graham. Congressman Ralph Norman, who has been in the House since 2017, representing the state's fifth district, says Graham is

unknown and untested, and that his platform is in line with Trump's legislative agenda. But other than that, we're going to call them out for what they're doing to this country. Faith, family, and freedom of what the Democrats are against. For Republican voters, the economy and affordability are at the top issues. Russell Lee, a retiree, says he worried. about younger people who may not have a set income. The groceries are expensive and gas is expensive and we're retired, you know. I mean, we're set where we're at, but I understand how tough it could be on young people. The winner of the special election primary runoff will then face off against the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate, Annie Andrews, a pediatrician in the November election.

For NPR News, I'm Gavin Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina. A note before we go, if you value this show and want to help keep it going, a free, and totally easy way to support us is to rate and review Trump's terms on the platform where you listen in a world of algorithms that goes a long way toward helping us reach new listeners. If you have left a review in the past, thank you so much. I'm Scott Detrow. Thanks for listening to Trump's terms from NPR.