MAGA loyalist Megyn Kelly has entered a state of shocked disbelief over polling numbers for the South Carolina Senate race.
A New York Times/Siena poll found that the race between Republican incumbent Darline Graham, 62, and Democrat challenger Annie Andrews, 45, is “effectively tied” as of Wednesday. South Carolina hasn’t elected a Democrat to the Senate in this century.
“South Carolina is now tied,” Kelly, 55, said on her podcast. “Is that real?”
President Donald Trump, 80, appointed Graham to serve the remainder of her brother Lindsey’s term after his death in July; she then decided to run for a full term with Trump’s endorsement, despite indications that she’s both underqualified and unpopular. Former South Carolina governors Republican David Beasley and Democrat Jim Hodges endorsed Andrews in a major snub for Graham.
Graham has struggled since the Republican primary, when she said in a debate, “National security is not my thing.” Trump excused the statement by explaining Graham “understands that national security is my thing.”
“If your surgeon said that appendectomies aren’t really his thing, would you still hand him a scalpel? No,” Andrews said in an October debate against Graham. “So why would we hand Darline Graham a full term in the U.S. Senate? She is unserious and unqualified.”
Kelly is concerned about what a Graham loss could mean for Trump.
“Oh, my lord,” Kelly said. “If she loses, that one for sure is going to be blamed on Trump because the only reason Darline Graham is the senator from South Carolina is because her brother died. Trump got her put into his seat and then said, ‘She’s going to have to be the candidate. We want her to be the candidate to actually run.’”
“To actually make her the candidate was always risky,” Kelly added. “It happened because Trump made it happen.”
Trump will hold a rally in South Carolina on Thursday, marking his second visit to the state ahead of November’s midterm general elections. Kelly speculated that his team has “internal polls which are showing them there’s trouble,” prompting the visit.
“The president does not waste time in the lead-up to the actual Election Day the week before by going down to South Carolina, which is redder than red, if he doesn’t have to,” Kelly said. “I mean, we should not be losing on Team Red, or rational, South Carolina.”
Andrews agrees that Trump’s sporadic visit indicates Graham’s dire need for campaign help.
“I think it continues to speak to the weakness of her as a Senator and a candidate,” Andrews said. “She needs the highest levels of her party to come in here and rescue her campaign.”
