COLUMBIA — U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham again called on two of his GOP challengers to fire campaign workers over social media posts, saying their “vile antisemitic” positions don’t belong in the Republican Party.

Tuesday’s news conference marked the second time in two weeks that the Republican senator drew attention to the past posts and two of his GOP opponents: Mark Lynch, an Upstate furniture seller, and Paul Dans, a Charleston attorney.

Both candidates, who launched their bids to unseat Graham last year and are the best funded among his six primary opponents, have dismissed the criticism while declining to address the specific posts or antisemitism generally.

The campaign workers singled out by Graham — a contracted consultant for Dans and a researcher for Lynch — have not been let go.

Graham’s criticism of Dans’ campaign worker involves an animated video posted last November that likens Jews to cockroaches. The post by Lynch’s staffer last summer shows someone stepping on the Talmud, an ancient and sacred collection of Jewish laws and customs.

“If you believe this is a pathway forward to victory in the Republican Party, I want to make sure that you’re proven wrong,” Graham said during Tuesday’s virtual news conference, when he made comments similar to what he told reporters Thursday in Greenville.

On Tuesday, he was joined by leaders of local and national Jewish organizations.

If not denounced, antisemitism will “destroy the fabric of a country,” said Rabbi Yossi Refson of the Chabad of Charleston, a Jewish community center.

“History has shown again and again that a country that tolerates Jew hatred will not remain a country of freedom for long,” he added.

The video shared by Dans’ consultant, Vish Burra, reportedly got him fired from the One America News network as a producer for “The Matt Gaetz Show,” a political talk show hosted by the former Florida congressman.

In it, a cartoon version of Burra enters what’s labeled as a “scheming room” with Stars of David and cockroaches, which he appears to incinerate. It was deleted hours later.

“I call this out because I think it’s a vile antisemitic action that has no place in politics or, quite frankly, decent society, and he hasn’t been fired,” Graham said Tuesday.

In Greenville last week, Graham showed screenshots from the video. Burra responded on X that Graham “has to be obsessed” with him. He later updated his banner photo on X to seemingly mock the criticism. It’s a screenshot of Graham’s news conference, with an image edited over it that shows Burra grinning in his controversial video.

Last week, Dans posted on X that he would not fire Burra: “Israel picks Lindsey Graham’s staff, but they do not pick mine,” he wrote.

On Tuesday, Dans told the SC Daily Gazette that Graham’s accusations were a deflection from South Carolina’s real issues.

He said Burra didn’t actually make the video he shared. Asked who did make it, Dans said, “I don’t know and I don’t care.” He called the video “meme culture” and satire.

“I believe in Jesus Christ and redemption,” Dans said. “Graham is slandering him, and I believe Graham will be sued” by Burra, he added.

Burra could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

As for Lynch’s campaign, the post Graham highlighted by researcher Evan Mulch shows a shoe on the Talmud, a collection of writings central to Judaism. Mulch declined to respond to the SC Daily Gazette’s requests for comment.

“When you step on the Talmud with a boot, I don’t think that’s American; I don’t think it’s Christian,” Graham said. “I don’t think there’s any place in running for higher office for people who engage in that behavior.”

Asked for comment, Lynch called Graham “an existential threat to both the nation of Israel and the United States.”

He accused Graham of sending “10s of millions of dollars” to terrorist groups threatening Israel. His basis for that was Graham’s past support of the now-dismantled U.S. Agency for International Development, and investigations into some of USAID’s funding getting diverted to terrorist groups.

Graham’s praise of USAID in a 2021 video wishing the organization a happy 60th anniversary resurfaced last year as he shifted his stance and backed Trump’s dismantling of the agency.

Lynch also wrote that Graham “has actively aided the Islamic invasion of America, causing a grave national security threat for every American and every South Carolinian.” By that, he was referring to Graham’s support for a program that previously gave visas to Afghan and Iraqi nationals who directly helped the U.S. government in its war effort in their countries.

On Tuesday, Graham also criticized Lynch’s repeated calls to “ban Islam.”

“Those kind of statements are just, quite frankly, un-American,” Graham said. “Everybody in the Islamic Muslim faith is not all the same.”

Graham is set to face six Republican challengers in the June 9 GOP primary. The other four candidates have entered the race within the last two months.

COLUMBIA — Two dueling GOP proposals designed to stop Democrats from voting in Republican primaries are likely going nowhere after causing a “civil war” within South Carolina’s dominating party.

Rep. Brandon Newton of Lancaster, author of the bill repeatedly endorsed by the state Republican Party, opened Wednesday’s two-hour hearing by saying neither bill should advance amid the internal GOP wrangling. The other bill is primarily sponsored by members of the hardline House Freedom Caucus and backed by U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, who’s running for governor and came to the Statehouse last week to demand its passage.

“This has been the nastiest debate internally I’ve ever witnessed in the party structure,” said Newton, former chairman of the Lancaster County GOP and former state GOP executive committeeman. “The divide on this topic and the divide between two pieces of legislation have truly put, I believe, the party in a civil war.”

The accusations and name-calling flying back and forth on social media is over the top, he said, noting an activist even came to the University of South Carolina at Lancaster, where he teaches business, and put fliers on cars all over campus bashing his bill.

GOP candidate for SC governor demands closed primaries. Gov. McMaster threatens a veto.

It’s unfair to put legislators in the position of “trying to create a kumbaya moment between two warring factions between the party,” continued Newton, who’s also the assistant majority leader of the House GOP Caucus.

Besides, he said, Gov. Henry McMaster has made it clear he would veto either bill: “He didn’t equivocate. He didn’t say maybe.” The Senate has “shown zero interest in taking it up.” And there’s no way it can take effect for the June primaries anyway, Newton said, noting that the process of creating the ballots starts in a couple of months.

The House Judiciary subcommittee heard testimony on both bills but took no vote.

Chad Connelly, who led the state GOP from 2011 to 2013, said it’s been a priority of the party for decades and recalled coming to the Statehouse to advocate for the idea as chairman. With a supermajority GOP Legislature — which didn’t exist in either chamber during his tenure — it’s time to make it happen, he said.

But unless the intra-party strife resolves quickly, which seems highly unlikely, there won’t be another hearing on the bills this year.

Several people said closed primaries are a bad idea because they exclude participation of voters who don’t consider themselves Republican or Democrat, which will further polarize political discord.

Voter participation is already low for primaries, which usually decide the winner of South Carolina contests. Closing the primaries would mean an even smaller faction of the population on the right and left would determine who represents all South Carolinians, said Lynn Teague with the League of Women Voters’ state chapter.

“We believe that independents, who are a growing part of the electorate, should not be excluded,” she said.

Newton agreed, saying any bill that doesn’t allow independent voters to participate is a “red line” he won’t support. His bill would allow unregistered voters to participate, but anyone who voted in a party primary would then automatically be registered with that party. The other bill requires voters to register with the party at least 30 days before a primary in order to vote.

Andrew Boucher, chairman of the Charleston County GOP, said that would create “absolute chaos.” It’s hard enough to get people to the polls. People who don’t know they need to pre-register will be turned away at precincts they’ve voted at for years, he told legislators.

Newton pointed to President Donald Trump’s election to argue against pre-registration. Nearly 140,000 additional voters participated in South Carolina’s GOP presidential primary in 2016 compared to four years earlier. People who’d never voted in a primary before helped fuel Trump’s win in the state’s critical first-in-the-South presidential primary and, beyond that, the White House.

“Barring them from having the ability to vote in a primary is wrong,” he said.

Other speakers said it’s Newton’s bill that prevents participation by narrowing who can run in a primary. They pointed to a provision that requires candidates to have voted in two of the last three statewide primaries. It does allow the party’s executive committee to make exceptions for people who don’t meet that qualification. But that means the party will control who can be on the ballot, they said.

Those supporting the Freedom Caucus bill included Mark Lynch, a Republican running to unseat U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham on his right flank, and GOP candidates vying for the coastal 1st District.

Tyler Dykes of Bluffton, who’s among 10 Republicans running to replace U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, said Newton’s bill would bar his candidacy.

The Marine Corps veteran said he and other military veterans who are busy serving their country won’t be able to meet the two-primary requirement. Dykes would have an additional obstacle, as he was imprisoned for his participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol before Trump pardoned him last January. Arrested in July 2023, he later pleaded guilty to assaulting law enforcement but now disputes prosecutors’ accusations, saying his plea was only to get a deal.

Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Alex Pelbath, another 1st District GOP candidate, agreed that the two-primary requirement for candidacy would unfairly keep veterans like him from running.

Rep. Mark Smith of Daniel Island, the only legislator in the 1st District race, took a different tone.

Noting he’s a co-sponsor of both bills, he said he doesn’t care which passes. He also stressed not caring about McMaster’s threat or whether the Senate would consider whatever the House advances. He contended it’s the House’s job to come up with a compromise that can pass.

In addition to Norman, other Republicans running for governor have also chimed in saying they support closed primaries — though without making a demand at the Statehouse.

In news releases, Mace endorsed the Freedom Caucus bill, while Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and Attorney General Alan Wilson both advocated for the idea without specifically endorsing either House proposal.