Did Lindsey Graham’s Sister Just Lose the Election with This Terrible Debate Answer?

It has been just over a month since South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster appointed Darline Graham to fill the remainder of her late brother Lindsay Graham’s Senate term — which ends in January — after his surprising death.

Graham, who has never run for elected office or been particularly active in politics, quickly secured the support of President Donald Trump. Days after being sworn-in, she announced she would run in the special GOP primary to replace her brother on the November ballot. Last week, Graham and Congressman Ralph Norman advanced to the runoff, which will be held August 25.

The Question

Early voting began Wednesday, but not before Graham and Norman squared off in the first and only debate ahead of the runoff.

While a debate of this nature might not normally be national news, Graham’s answer to a question about whether Taiwan and the South China Sea are “national security issues for the United States” is making the wrong kind of headlines. 

She initially asked moderator Greta Van Susteren to repeat the question before, to the shock of many watching, admitting that national security is “not my thing.” 

“I’m just going to be honest here. I’m not on national security– I’m not that informed on national security, so,” she said before pausing in an apparent effort to collect her thoughts. “But I do support the military.” 

She went on to talk about her military family. “My brother was in the Air Force for 33 years, so I will do everything I can to support the military. My dad was in the Army,” Graham added.

“I’m not a polished politician up here. National security is not my thing, not my area of expertise,” she continued. “But I do support the military.”

A ‘Disqualifying’ Answer

On Wednesday’s Megyn Kelly Show, Megyn asked the guys from RealClearPolitics – Tom Bevan, Carl Cannon, and Andrew Walworth – if the answer is “disqualifying.”

The consensus was “probably” – especially when you consider that Norman, her opponent, actually managed to answer the question. “I think she may have just lost the runoff with that one statement. Ralph Norman actually answered the question. He answered it pretty well,” Walworth said.

Rather than pounce on Graham’s stumble, Norman sought to convey his knowledge of the region, saying Taiwan is a “definite ally” and expressing support for President Trump’s “peace through strength” approach.

“What the president is doing right is he’s enabling Taiwan to defend themselves against China, but it’s peace through strength that he’s showing with Iran, that China, Russia, others are looking at it so that they don’t want to deal with America, and that’s why they haven’t attacked Taiwan,” Norman said. “If they had some weak Democrat in office, like Biden or another Obama, yeah, they’d take it over. But we can’t let that happen.”

Megyn believes that was a missed opportunity for the congressman. “Look, she is a sympathetic figure, but he should have said, ‘With respect, I understand Darline is grieving her brother, but she has no business being a U.S. senator and not able to answer that question.’ He should have done it,” she said.

What Now?

Walworth wondered if Norman was just too “stunned” to do so, and he also wondered what this means for President Trump’s involvement in the race going forward. “She was named in the spot as sort of a placeholder, and I think that is the way people sort of thought of her initially. And then she served like eight days, and buried her brother, and decided that she wanted to keep the seat, and the president is behind her,” he explained.

“It will be a question now: How much energy does the president put behind her at this point,” Walworth asked. “Because in a sense, I mean, I guess it would be nice to have her there if you’re Trump. But at the same time, Ralph Norman is not the worst thing in the world for him… So, it’ll be interesting to see how the White House reacts at this point. She may be just damaged goods.”

You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Bevan, Cannon, and Walworth by tuning in to episode 1,382 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s The Megyn Kelly Channel (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.