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Sitting U.S. Sen. Darline Graham (R-South Carolina) said that she is “not that informed” on policies regarding national security in an embarrassing remark during a debate with her Republican primary opponent on Tuesday.
In the debate, a moderator asked Darline Graham about whether or not she considers issues regarding Taiwan and the South China Sea to be matters of national security for the U.S.
The senator asked the moderator to repeat the question, then said: “I’m just going to be honest here. I’m not on national security — I’m not that informed on national security.”
“But I do support the military,” she said, after a pause. “I’m not a polished politician up here. National security is not my thing, not my area of expertise. But I do support the military.”
National security refers broadly to policies protecting national interests and sovereignty, often with regard to international policy and global issues. National security policy has many overlaps with military policy, but encompasses many more topics, like diplomacy, economic issues, and environmental crises.
Darline Graham is the sister of late Sen. Lindsey Graham, and is running for a full six-year Senate term. When Lindsey Graham died in July, Republican Gov. Henry McMaster chose her to serve out the rest of his term despite her complete lack of political experience, raising concerns over nepotism, especially following President Donald Trump’s endorsement.
Despite this, she is the frontrunner in the race, having won 33 percent to Rep. Ralph Norman’s (R) 25 percent in a primary last week that is advancing to a runoff between the two candidates.
The moderators did not press Darline Graham on her answer. Minutes later, however, Darline Graham was confident on another issue regarding foreign policy: Israel.
“Israel is one of our strongest allies, so I definitely support standing with Israel,” she said. She also said she backs Trump’s war on Iran — a war that was the pet project of her late brother throughout his career.
At another point during the debate, Darline Graham overstated the population of South Carolina by an order of magnitude, saying that the state has a population of 50 million when the Census Bureau lists it as 5.6 million.
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