He’s not speaking at RNC. But Graham still pushed for Trump’s reelection in Fort Mill SC
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham toured a textile plant in Fort Mill Monday afternoon, promoting his recently introduced legislation on personal protective equipment production. He was about 20 minutes from the Republican National Convention, which kicked off this week in Charlotte, and spent most of his visit pushing for President Donald Trump’s reelection.
Meanwhile, Trump was in Charlotte.
Graham, R-SC, a prominent Trump ally, is not set to speak during any of the four nights of the GOP convention. U.S. Sen. Tim Scott and Nikki Haley, former South Carolina governor and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, are on the convention’s lineup.
However, Graham confirmed that he will be with Trump Thursday when the president gives his acceptance speech at the White House.
In the meantime, Graham said he is focused on his own competitive reelection campaign.
A recent Morning Consult poll found that Graham had a one-percentage point lead over his Democratic challenger Jaime Harrison, who appeared last week at the Democratic National Convention.
“Well I’m running for office, so the difference between me and Nikki is I’m up for reelection,” Graham said. “I’m very proud of the fact Nikki Haley and Tim Scott are going to speak on President Trump’s behalf.”
Graham walked around for a few minutes Monday in the OXCO, Inc. facility in Fort Mill, which specializes in non-woven fabrics. The plant, which relocated from Charlotte to Fort Mill, has been helping to supply personal protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the company’s president Erich Meier praised Graham’s effort to move the equipment supply chain from China to the United States.
“What we’ve realized during this experience since the pandemic, in the United States in March, that there is a shortage, and a dangerous shortage here in the United States and we don’t want to take a chance like we’ve taken to date as a country,” Meier said.
Graham’s U.S. MADE Act, which he said he intends to include in Congress’ latest coronavirus relief package, has gotten backing from some of his Democratic colleagues, Graham said.
“The only thing standing in the way of this bill is a negotiation that needs to happen sooner rather than later,” he said. “I’m hopeful after this convention that President Trump and Senator (Chuck) Schumer and Nancy Pelosi can come back together...and we’ll hammer out a compromise.”
But the focus of Graham’s visit quickly shifted to Trump’s achievements.
“The results of his presidency are pretty astonishing if you believe in conservative government,” Graham said. “If you believe in conservative judges, he’s delivered unlike anybody in my lifetime...I’ve never seen the military stronger than it is today since Ronald Reagan. He’s cut taxes. He’s deregulating the country.”
And Graham downplayed his low poll performance in his own race for a fourth term. He insisted that South Carolina Republicans will “figure out the Trump-Graham combination makes more sense.”
“Voting for Jamie Harrison and President Trump makes zero sense,” Graham said. “If you’re a Republican, I don’t know why you would do that. Jamie Harrison is not on board for anything remotely similar to the Trump agenda.”
He went on to criticize the dozens of former members of Congress, including South Carolina Republican Bob Inglis, who threw their support behind Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on the first day of the convention.
“I know many of them,” Graham told The Herald. “I consider them friends. I disagree with their assessment about President Trump. He’s been a great president for traditional Republican policies. I don’t know why any Republican would want to turn the country over to Pelosi, Schumer and Biden. I mean that would be the most radical agenda in my lifetime.”
This story was originally published August 24, 2020 at 6:09 PM with the headline "He’s not speaking at RNC. But Graham still pushed for Trump’s reelection in Fort Mill SC."
