Escalation: Trump Rallies for Darline Graham in Myrtle Beach

President Donald Trump held a campaign rally for Sen. Darline Graham at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center on Aug. 21, 2026, urging Republicans to turn out for the GOP runoff set for Aug. 25. He repeatedly told the crowd to “pretend, please, that I’m on the ballot” and pressed voters to get to the polls to elect Graham as a tribute to her late brother.

Thousands packed the convention center after supporters began lining up early in the morning; the event was set to begin at 5:30 p.m. with Trump expected around 7 p.m. He spoke for more than an hour, read the lyrics of the 1960s song “The Snake,” worked the crowd (including a bit of dancing to “YMCA”), and left in his motorcade as some attendees were already leaving.

Gov. Henry McMaster publicly endorsed Graham hours before the rally and Trump brought multiple allies on stage while pitching her as a defender of his agenda. About 7:28 p.m. a protester stood up and was escorted out; Trump paused and quipped that the person was “going home to mom” and that “mom is voting for us.” He told reporters before flying that Graham “was being honest” when she said she wasn’t up to speed on national security, while some accounts of the visit described the president as having not publicly commented on that debate gaffe.

AI-synthesized from multiple reported sources