Republican insiders have turned on Donald Trump over his crushing midterm election defeat, accusing him of “personally punching holes through our red wall” by backing the wrong candidate.
The furious backlash has erupted in South Carolina, where the 80-year-old president backed Darline Graham, the younger sister of longtime Sen. Lindsey Graham, who died in July.
Trump greets Sen. Darline Graham after she spoke during a campaign rally in South Carolina. His unwavering support for her has caused an angry backlash among his own party.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Despite Trump’s support, the political newcomer was defeated by Democrat Annie Andrews, handing the party its first Senate victory in the state since 1998.
Nathan Leupp, 46, a former Greenville County Republican Party chairman, said Trump’s interference had helped cost Republicans a state that should have resisted the Democratic wave.
“I fully believe that South Carolina would have been the only red wall for that blue wave except for Lindsey Graham’s passing and President Trump personally punching holes through our red wall by selecting our nominee,” he told The Wall Street Journal.
Trey Walker, 59, a veteran Republican strategist and longtime chief of staff to Gov. Henry McMaster, told the Journal: “Quite frankly, I think we got the a**-kicking we needed.”
The outlet reports that anger against Trump is particularly great in Greenville County, a conservative stronghold that the president carried by 22 points in 2024. Andrews won the county last week, taking 49.8 percent of the vote against Graham’s 47.5 percent.
Trump personally intervened in the race following Lindsey Graham’s death, backing his sister despite concerns about her lack of political experience. As the Daily Beast has reported, his choice caused anger among Republicans even before Election Day.
Graham subsequently defeated Republican Rep. Ralph Norman in an August primary runoff, but went into the general election facing a much better-funded opponent.
Andrews raised around $24 million against Graham’s $2 million, according to the Journal, and focused her campaign on the cost of living and healthcare. She also secured the support of former Republican Gov. David Beasley, who joined up with former Democratic Gov. Jim Hodges to endorse her.
Annie Andrews pulled off a major shock.
Trump traveled to South Carolina three times to support Graham but could not prevent the defeat. As the Beast previously reported, the president appeared stunned when informed of the result during an election-night interview.
The result has exposed major schisms inside the Republican Party, with veteran conservatives blaming Trump’s choice of candidate for helping Dems win a state the GOP had dominated for decades.
Greenville Republicans had already been fighting among themselves, the Journal says, with MAGA activists ousting party veterans, including Leupp, during a bitter struggle for control of the local GOP.
Lindsey Graham had been a Trump loyalist before his death earlier this year.
Randy Page, 59, a veteran conservative activist with links to Bob Jones University, told the Journal that male students were angry about Trump’s war with Iran, while female students objected to the president’s vulgar behavior.
Steve Pettit, 70, a former president of Bob Jones University, also laid the blame at Trump’s door. “To me, what happened on Tuesday was really a response to the president,” Pettit said.
Beasley told the Journal that Trump’s transformation of the GOP had left him unable to identify with the party he once helped lead. “That party we built?” he said. “That party doesn’t exist anymore.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the Republican National Committee for comment.
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