WASHINGTON — Sen. Darline Graham Nordone (R-SC) had two brutal stumbles Tuesday night during her primary runoff debate against Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) — admitting to being “not that informed” on vital national security issues and bungling South Carolina’s population.
The sister of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham had been asked whether she considers “Taiwan and the South China Sea national security issues for the United States” and “if so, why.”
“I’m just gonna be honest here,” Graham replied. “I’m not that informed on national security. But I do support the military.”
“My brother was in the Air Force for 33 years, so I will do everything I can to support the military,” she added. “My dad was in the Army. I’m not a polished politician up here. National security is not my thing, not my area of expertise, but I support the military.”
The US has long maintained a complex policy of strategic ambiguity on Taiwan as part of an effort to deter a Chinese invasion of the self-governing island while maintaining good relations with Beijing.
After Washington recognized the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and de-recognized the Taipei-based Republic of China (ROC) in 1979, Congress passed the Taiwan Relations Act, which established unofficial links with the island in the absence of formal diplomatic ties.
Specifically, the act vows that the US will sell Taiwan weapons “to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion that would jeopardize the security, or social or economic system, of the people of Taiwan.”
As part of the so-called “One China” policy, the US acknowledges the PRC’s claim to Taiwan, but does not support it, after proclaiming in a 1972 joint communique with Beijing that “all Chinese on either side of the Taiwan Strait maintain there is but one China and that Taiwan is a part of China.”
“Lindsey Graham was well informed on the United States’ national security,” former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who has endorsed Norman, chided on X in response to the gaffe.
“Darline Graham admits she’s not. This is not something you inherit. And it’s critical in the U.S. Senate.”
During her campaign, Graham had stressed that she would place far more emphasis on domestic policy than her late brother, one of the most hawkish foreign policy voices in Congress.
However, her second error came as she tried to pivot to local issues.
“There’s 50 million people in South Carolina. Half of them live paycheck to paycheck,” said Graham, incorrectly multiplying the Palmetto State’s population by 10.
Darline Graham, 62, was appointed by GOP South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster to serve out her brother’s term following Lindsey Graham’s sudden death July 11 from an aortic dissection, but decided last month to run for a full six-year term herself.
Graham, who has been endorsed by President Trump, will face off with Norman next week in a special runoff to determine the Republican nominee.
Lindsey Graham had won the regular Senate primary the month before his death.
