Trump offers Fox News a selfish take on dead ally's respect for sister

Incumbent US Senator Darline Graham (R-SC) and US President Donald Trump interact during a midterm election campaign rally at an event center in Rock Hill, South Carolina, US, October 29, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

On Thursday, President Donald Trump delivered an eyebrow-raising response when asked about his former ally, recently departed Senator Lindsey Graham. The president was speaking with a Fox reporter before going onstage at a rally in support of Graham’s sister, Republican senatorial candidate Sen. Darline Graham (R-SC), when he admitted that he wasn’t necessarily “happy” that Lindsey may have held Darline in higher esteem than Trump himself.

Trump was asked why he was back in South Carolina stumping for Graham for the second time in just eight days, and what his final message was for voters who might be considering voting for Democratic candidate Annie Andrews, who polls show is neck-and-neck with her GOP opponent. “I don’t think you’ll have too many of them, but we have to make sure she gets in,” said Trump, referring to Graham. “Great woman. I’ve known her a long time. Lindsey’s sister. Lindsey was a great politician who loved this state so much. And he was really a big help to me. She is the person that I think in the whole world, he most respected. I think that might have included me, which I don’t know if that makes me happy or not.”

This isn’t the first time the president has complained that his former ally had higher regard for his sister than Trump. During a South Carolina rally last Wednesday, Trump said, “So Lindsey had a lot of sense for people. I think he respected Darline, he told me, so much. He respected Darline more than any person alive. That includes me — and I wasn't happy about it.” Lindsey Graham raised his sister, acting as her legal guardian after their parents passed away when he was 20 years old and she was 13. Even so, Trump has in the past famously declared that he expects “loyalty” to himself above all else.

Trump has been forced to put an unusual amount of attention into South Carolina – a state that is typically considered reliably red – after recent polling revealed that the candidates are in a dead heat at 48 percent each. Republicans are facing such abysmal numbers in states and districts they have long considered safely in their camp that Trump is campaigning in deep GOP territory in an attempt to shore up votes wherever they can. During the Thursday rally, it was announced that Trump was canceling a coming rally in Kansas, giving rise to speculation that Republicans are giving up the Senate seat there as lost.

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