CLEMSON: President Donald Trump campaigned in South Carolina on Wednesday to support Republican senator Darline Graham, who is in a surprisingly competitive Senate race for the seat once held by her late brother, Lindsey Graham.
Less than two weeks before the Nov 3 election, Darline Graham is running about even in the polls against Democrat Annie Andrews in a state Republicans typically win handily, another sign of the political headwinds confronting Trump's party amid high gasoline prices and the war in Iran.
Despite poll numbers showing his popularity at an all-time low, Trump has campaigned in multiple states in an effort to maintain Republican majorities in Congress.
All 435 seats in the US House of Representatives and 35 of the 100 Senate seats are at stake on Nov 3, with Democrats favoured to regain control of the House and be competitive for control of the Senate.
Protesters interrupted Trump multiple times during his speech at Clemson University.
The crowd chanted "USA" as security guards escorted the protesters out of the arena.
Sporadic protests have interrupted proceedings at recent rallies by Trump, who repeatedly cast the demonstrators without evidence as "paid protesters".
Trump began his speech at Clemson University with an endorsement of Graham and praised her brother, who died unexpectedly of a heart ailment in July.
"I love that brother," Trump said, adding that he used to send Lindsey Graham as an emissary to deal with politicians of either party.
"He respected Darline more than any person alive. That included me, and I wasn't happy about it," Trump joked during the rally at a livestock arena.
Trump counted Lindsey Graham as one of his closest allies and a foreign policy adviser.
He backed Darline Graham to take over her brother's seat after he died and quickly endorsed her bid for a full six-year term, setting off tensions with other Republicans seeking the seat.
Trump's rally at Clemson University comes at a complicated moment for Graham.
Trump last week waived sanctions on Russia that her brother, a leading Republican advocate for Ukraine, had championed in the months before he died.
Trump has been reluctant to punish Russian president Vladimir Putin for the war he started and instead has mounted pressure on Ukraine to make concessions to Moscow to end the conflict.
Graham, while otherwise supportive of Trump, has said she disagrees with the president removing the sanctions.
"I don't trust Putin, and I don’t trust Russia," she told the Associated Press on Saturday.
Graham did not mention Russia in a speech before Trump took the stage, instead focusing on the issues that have become a staple of Republican politics, such as opposition to transgender rights, illegal immigration, gun control and abortion.
Trump went to South Carolina to help push her over the line. Non-partisan analysts rate South Carolina, a state Trump won in 2024 by nearly 18 percentage points, as either likely Republican or leaning Republican.
"The fact that he's coming down to South Carolina days before the election tells you how close the election is," said US Representative Nancy Mace, a South Carolina Republican.
Outside Republican groups have been pouring money into the state, where early voting is underway.
They have spent US$9.7 million since Oct 1 to support Graham or attack Andrews, a pediatrician, according to a Reuters analysis of federal campaign filings.
By contrast, they have only spent US$240,000 on the Senate race in neighbouring North Carolina over the same period as Democrat Roy Cooper has established a firm lead over Republican Michael Whatley, despite Trump previously winning the state in all three of his presidential races.
Trump's 32-day campaign blitz has largely taken him to Republican-leaning areas that he won comfortably in previous elections, underscoring the challenges facing Republicans as they try to retain control of the US Senate and the House of Representatives.
The latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, published on Monday, found that 31% of Americans approve of Trump's performance in office, a record low for the president.