Trump backs Sen. Darline Graham in primary to replace her late brother

2026 ElectionTrump backs Sen. Darline Graham in primary to replace her late brotherPresident Donald Trump previously recommended that Graham serve out her late brother’s term through January.Listen to this article with a free profile00:0000:00President Donald Trump backed Sen. Darline Graham to run for a full term to replace her late brother, Lindsey Graham, as the Republican nominee for Senate in South Carolina. Finn Gomez / Getty ImagesShareAdd NBC News to GoogleJuly 17, 2026, 4:08 PM EDTBy Alexandra MarquezPresident Donald Trump endorsed Sen. Darline Graham, R-S.C., in the special election to fill her late brother’s Senate seat for a full term.Subscribe to read this story ad-freeGet unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.“I asked Darline, for the Good of our Nation, to run for the U.S. Senate in the Special Republican Primary on Tuesday, August 11, 2026,” Trump wrote in a Friday post on Truth Social. “I hope Darline does this, in that there would be nobody better to honor the legacy of her beloved brother, Lindsey.”The president added later in his post that she has his “complete and total endorsement.”Add NBC News to GoogleS.C. Gov. McMaster appoints Darline Graham to fill Sen. Lindsey Graham's seat05:18She was appointed earlier this week by South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, a Republican, to serve out the rest of Sen. Lindsey Graham’s term in the Senate, through early January.Darline Graham is South Carolina’s first female senator. She and her late brother often spoke about their close relationship, which included Lindsey Graham’s adopting his younger sister when she was 13, shortly after both of their parents died.“I don’t know what I would have done without him,” she told Fox News in a joint interview in 2015.Lindsey Graham died suddenly Saturday night, triggering a Senate vacancy and a special election. He had been in the midst of a re-election campaign and selected by GOP voters in his state as the Republican nominee for Senate in J...