Trump will hold ‘Save America’ rally in Florence next month to boost SC Republicans
Donald Trump will hold a political rally in the Pee Dee region of South Carolina next month, where the former president is expected to champion the two coastal Republicans who are running to unseat two congressional incumbents that Trump has long had on his list of political targets: Tom Rice and Nancy Mace.
The rally, which will be held March 12 in Florence, was confirmed Friday evening by the South Carolina Republican Party and by the campaign of Russell Fry.
Fry, a state lawmaker, is running to unseat Rice, who represents South Carolina’s 7th Congressional District. Rice drew the former president’s ire after he voted to impeach Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Trump endorsed Fry earlier this month, though some local conservatives were unhappy with the move.
Elsewhere along the coast, in the Charleston-anchored 1st Congressional District, Republican Katie Arrington is challenging U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-Daniel Island.
Like Fry, Arrington was also endorsed by Trump.
According to an event listing on his political action committee’s website, Trump will speak at 7 p.m. on March 12 at the Florence Regional Airport.
Parking for the event will open at 8 a.m. Doors to the event will open at 2 p.m., and pre-Trump speakers will begin at 4:30 p.m.
Claire Brady, a spokesperson for the South Carolina GOP, said additional speakers have not yet been finalized.
The March 12 rally confirms earlier reports by The State newspaper, which broke the news about Trump’s plans to hold such an event in the Palmetto State.
Philip Habib, Fry’s campaign manager, separately confirmed news of Trump’s visit on Friday. By holding the rally in Florence, Trump will be in South Carolina’s 7th Congressional District.
“America First patriots, myself included, look forward to welcoming President Trump back to the 7th Congressional District,” Fry said in a statement Friday. “This is Trump Country and I’m honored to have his support in the fight to take back Congress from radical liberals and RINOs like Tom Rice.”
Arrington’s campaign did not immediately return a request seeking comment Friday night.
South Carolina GOP Chairman Drew McKissick, in a statement, cheered the news of Trump’s visit.
“After a year of crises and failures from the Biden Administration, it’s no surprise folks are eager to rally behind a Republican, America First agenda. That’s why we’re excited to welcome President Trump back to South Carolina,” McKissick said in the statement.
In a statement Friday, Rice reiterated his record of voting with Trump 94% of the time during his presidency and criticized Fry for backing Trump and the national GOP’s stance on the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
“Make no mistake, Donald Trump is coming to the 7th district because he and Russell Fry believe the Jan. 6 attack on our Capitol was ‘legitimate political discourse,’” Rice said, referencing language Republican leadership used to characterize Jan. 6 when it censured Wyoming U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney.
“I will always stand against political violence — whether it’s ANTIFA in cities or the riots at the Capitol,” Rice added. “I will also always call out Putin, who Donald Trump is cheering on as Russia invades Ukraine.”
Rice concluded, “Voters here understand that it takes more courage to stand up than to bend the knee.”
A request for comment from Mace’s campaign was not immediately returned Friday night.
The last time Trump was in the Palmetto State was in February 2020, when Trump hosted a “Keep America Great” rally at the North Charleston Coliseum on the eve of the state’s Democratic presidential primary.
The 7th District race has been in the political spotlight since January 2021, when Rice stunned the nation by joining nine Republicans in voting to impeach Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Rice was first elected to Congress in 2012, and has held onto his seat ever since.
Since his impeachment vote, Rice has defended his decision and said he regrets voting not to certifying 2020 election results from Pennsylvania and Arizona. As he’s run for reelection, Rice has argued the GOP should stick to Trump’s policies but move away from him personally.
Mace, who worked as one of Trump’s own presidential campaign staffers in 2016, has also found herself at odds with the former president as she faces her own 2022 reelection fight.
The one-term congresswoman narrowly won back the 1st District for Republicans in 2020, but soon after she was sworn into office, Mace became one of Trump’s most vocal and prolific critics within the Republican Party in the immediate aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack.
She told CNN that Trump’s “entire legacy was wiped out” by what happened that day. She told The State newspaper she no longer believed in Trump. And when she was asked whether she believed Trump has a future in the Republican Party, Mace told Fox News, “I do not.”
In one of her first votes, Mace stood alone as the only Republican House member in South Carolina’s Washington delegation who voted to certify the results of the 2020 election.
Trump’s signaled his plans to wade into these two South Carolina congressional races in November, when called on “good and SMART America First Republican Patriots” to challenge both Rice and Mace.
If they did, Trump promised them, “You will have my backing!”
Before they earned Trump’s endorsement, both Fry and Arrington cast doubts on the results of 2020 presidential election.
Fry has called the 2020 election “rigged.” Arrington has claimed Trump won the election.
Despite Trump’s repeated claims that he was robbed of a second term, there has been no evidence of widespread voter fraud affecting the election’s outcome, nor has there been any evidence to show the election was stolen.
The rally will also be a reunion of sorts.
Arrington and Fry on Wednesday participated in a “Take Back Congress” candidate forum held at Mar-a-Lago this week. The event was private, and cost of admission ranged from $3,000 to $250,000. The next day, Arrignton shared photos from the event in a tweet.
“Grateful for President Trump’s invitation to Mar-a-Lago earlier this week to talk about the Lowcountry!” Arrington wrote. “His endorsed candidates are leading the charge to take back the House in 2022!”
Arrington previously ran for the 1st District seat in 2018.
She made national waves when she ousted incumbent U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford, a former governor who had never lost a political race in his career, in the Republican primary. Arrington went on to lose the general election contest, though, marking the first time since the 1980s that the seat flipped for Democrats.
In addition to Arrington and Fry, Trump has also endorsed two other South Carolina Republicans running for reelection this year: Gov. Henry McMaster and U.S. Sen. Tim Scott.
Editor’s note: This story was updated with additional comment from Rice.
This story was originally published February 25, 2022 at 8:00 PM.
