President Donald Trump’s iron grip on a red state stronghold is showing signs of rust — two weeks before an important election.
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The president’s popularity is deflating in South Carolina and the proof is in the pudding of Sen. Darline Nordone’s Trump-endorsed bid to replace her late brother Lindsey Graham, the Washington Post reported Thursday.
“I don’t think that Trump is the end all, be all that he used to be,” CJ Westfall, chairman of the Dorchester County Republican Party, told the Post. “People are going to be independently minded in this.”
Trump’s decision to endorse Nordone — whose already spurred a MAGA meltdown with a $100 check — hasn’t tipped the scales in her favor, according to the report.
Critics argue Nordone has no political record beyond supporting her brother — himself not seen as a MAGA faithful, according to the report.
Now the president’s conservative base has begun to question his motives, the Washington Post reported.
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“His supporters question whether the president is acting with their top priorities in mind,” the report states. “Some are simply irked that Trump wants to hand off a coveted six-year term to someone based on family ties, rather than a proven conservative record.”
Nordone was appointed by Trump to replace Graham after his sudden death earlier this month then endorsed when she decided to seek a full term.
The less-than-enthusiastic response to Trump’s endorsement saw a dozen GOP candidates file to run in the Aug. 11 primary election, according to the Post.
“Trump’s endorsements haven’t always been correct in the voters’ eyes,” Mark Lynch, running to succeed Graham, told the Post. “We’re not going to have a coronation in this state and elect Darline as the queen, underneath the king, Lindsey.”
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