U.S. President Donald Trump speaks while U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, FIFA President Gianni Infantino and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stand by his side, as he meets with the White House Task Force on the FIFA World Cup 2026 in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., November 17, 2025
Former South Carolina Republican Governor David Beasley condemned President Donald Trump’s attacks on a SC candidate Monday, but he was back on CNN news Tuesday night, praying for God to intervene and give the president a better “heart.”
Beasley, who has been a supporter of Trump's in the past, drew the line Monday after Trump called Republican senatorial candidate Darlene Graham’s opponent “Annie Trannie” on a Truth Social post. Trump claimed "she is in favor of Transgender for Everyone."
The former governor reacted on X, saying “elections don't have to be about cruelty and lies. South Carolina deserves better. I urge voters to look at the merits of each candidate and cast their vote accordingly. We must reject politics based on division and hate.”
But Beasley was back on CNN Tuesday night, pleading with God to change Trump in ways he appears incapable of changing himself.
“It's just heartbreaking to see this taking place,” Beasley told CNN anchor Erin Burnett. “… [T]he American people want the leaders in this country to focus on the issues, not this name calling, this creating more division and tearing this country down.”
Puzzled at Beasley’s past support of Trump, despite Trump being a crass name-caller for most of his political career, Burnett demanded “what is making you do this now? When we talk about Trump saying things like this and personally denigrating people, he's been doing that for a long time. It's part of his brand. What is it about this moment, sir, that's made this the time?”
“Because the lack of civility in this nation is going down by the minute,” Beasley argued. “And I don't think the people in America can take it much more. And this president has a little over two years left to be the president of the United States.”
Graham appears to be struggling in the reliably red state of South Carolina after a bad debate performance, with Public Policy Polling showing Democrat Annie Andrews doing well over the summer, but with Graham just now appearing to have picked up steam as Republicans come home to the party.
But Beasley said “obviously the internal polling must be showing that the race is neck to neck. And therefore, when that happens, you'll see a lot of political people start going to the curb, to the gutter and start playing this type of rhetoric and divisive politics based on cruelty and hatred. And that's just uncalled for.”
But it was when Burnett cited Trump’s statement at a campaign rally in Nebraska for Iran to take out liberal West coast cities that Beasley shook his head, seemingly in defeat.
“You know, we've experienced the incredible quotes for many, many years with president Trump. Uh, this might be top of the top of the bar here,” Beasley told Burnett. “It's sad. It really is. And anyway, I just pray that the Almighty will touch his soul and he’ll have a different heart and begin to unite the people of America.”
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