WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump was back in South Carolina on Thursday stumping for GOP Sen. Darline Graham, attacking her Democratic foe as “a radical left lunatic” and pleading with Republicans to vote.

In a twist, Trump opened the Rock Hill rally by spending a few minutes on North Carolina’s Senate race, in which polls show former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper leading Trump’s hand-picked GOP candidate, former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley. Taking advantage of being in the Charlotte television market, Trump described Cooper as a candidate who “tries to pretend he’s a moderate, and he’s not.”

“Whatley should win because he’s phenomenal,” the native New Yorker said before channeling his inner Tony Soprano. “But what are you going to do?”

Once he returned to the Palmetto State’s Senate contest about five minutes later, Trump contended that “our economy is roaring,” adding: “But if the Democrats win the midterms, they will burn it all down. … If you want to keep this growth going, you must vote Republican, and you must vote for really an amazing person, Darline Graham.”

He referred to Andrews, a pediatrician, as “Tranny Annie,” embellishing her record on transgender care. Some rallygoers booed.

(As a House candidate in 2022, Andrews said, “I do not support gender-affirming surgery on minors. I never have.” She has opposed state-level legislation on the topic she said was too harsh.)

The president was in solidly Republican territory in the “upstate” York County, which he won easily in his three presidential bids. Trump secured an average of 58.1 percent of the county’s vote in those campaigns, according to local election result data.

Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales and the Cook Political Report both rate as “Lean R” the battle for the South Carolina seat, which Graham was appointed to after the sudden death of her brother, GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham. Several recent polls show Darline Graham with a narrow lead, suggesting an unexpected margin-of-error contest. Trump and a number of Republican candidates have been scurrying to retain the party’s 53-47 Senate majority.

“You know she’s leading, but I had to come here,” he said. “Politics, you never, you never know, right? So you got to get out and vote. But there are only a few days left until Election Day. Every single person here has to get out and vote.”

Trump addressed the Rock Hill crowd on Thursday as several recent polls put his approval rating around 40%, against a disapproval rating that hovered just under 60%.

Longtime Sen. Ernest F. Hollings was the last Democrat to win a Senate seat there, in 1998, ahead of his retirement in 2005. (He had held that seat since 1966.) Jim Hodges was the last Democrat to win the governor’s mansion there, in 1998.

Trump’s Thursday South Carolina rally was his second in October and third of 2026, according to Roll Call’s Factba.se. Trump also held a rally to stump for Graham last week at a livestock expo facility in Clemson. His repeated trips to a state he easily won have led many political analysts to point to South Carolina as an example of potential trouble next week for Republicans across the country.

So, too, has the size of many of the venues Trump has played during his October midterms blitz. He and Graham appeared at the Rock Hill Sports and Event Center, which has 1,200 stadium seats, according to the Rock Hill city government. On Tuesday, he spoke at relatively small venues in Lubbock and Corpus Christie in Texas.

‘Hold your weapon’

For her part, Graham appeared to have some work to do in York County and the surrounding area.

That’s because Rep. Ralph Norman defeated her there earlier this year in a GOP primary runoff, securing 63.8% of ballots to her 36.1%. The same was the case in a number of the state’s northern counties. Norman has said he will not campaign for Graham.

That comes amid a high-profile Republican’s decision to back Andrews. Former Republican Gov. David Beasley teamed up with Hodges to record a video throwing their mutual support to Andrews.

Graham addressed the crowd before Trump arrived, attacking her opponent as “too radical,” claiming Andrews has run “deceptive ads” and that she favors confiscating South Carolinians’ firearms.

“I am a proud conservative Christian who will fight every single day for your family,” she said. “Democrat Annie Andrews, the most radical liberal candidate ever to run for office in the history of South Carolina. Like they say out in the country, she’s just plain batshit crazy. … To me, gun control is how steady you hold your weapon.”

South Carolina’s other GOP senator, Trump ally Tim Scott, lavished praise on Graham before Trump landed at Charlotte Douglas International Airport across the state line in North Carolina.

“Darline Graham has been an effective senator already. She got a piece of legislation signed by President Donald Trump in less than three months. She’s a powerhouse,” he said, referring to a Russia sanctions package her brother had crafted before his death. (Trump has since waived those same sanctions on Moscow.)

“She’s a true conservative. She was the deciding vote for our Attorney General Todd Blanche,” Scott added to applause. “She’s working already for the people of South Carolina.”

‘They want to cheat’

Trump continued his use of harsh rhetoric against Democrats during a Wednesday evening rally in Chillicothe, Ohio, for Sen. Jon Husted. Husted, whose former football-playing physique Trump has repeatedly praised, is in a tight race with former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown.

Trump also appeared to continue laying the groundwork for challenging election results next week in races Republicans lose.

“They don’t want voter ID, the Democrats, the ‘Dumocrats,’ because their policies are so (bad),” he said in front of about 1,000 rallygoers in the Buckeye State. “But they don’t want voter ID. Why? Because they want to cheat.”

Trump was asked about Alaska’s Senate race as he departed Washington on Thursday morning, saying that unless state officials “correct” a potentially confusing situation with two Dan Sullivans on the ballot, the contest could fail to clear his bar of an “honest election.”

Earlier this week, Trump said he would only respect midterm races’ outcomes that he deemed “honest” — but without providing a definition. Democratic lawmakers and pro-voter groups worry he and the Republican Party are planning shenanigans in races the party loses next week.

On Thursday, he said the inclusion of a candidate named Daniel J. Sullivan on ballots in GOP Sen. Daniel S. Sullivan’s reelection race was voter fraud and “should not have been allowed to happen.”

“Well, I think what they do, if they don’t correct this, would be, certainly, a dishonest election. If they don’t correct it, because you can take a good student, a smart person, and give him that ballot, and a man that never ran for office and nobody ever heard of is going to get a lot of votes,” Trump said. “And it’s very unfair.”

Inside Elections lists the Alaska Senate race as a toss up, with Democratic nominee Mary Peltola running tight with the GOP incumbent.

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