Carolina Forest wildfire briefing had constituents asking for town halls from Graham & Fry

Approximately two dozen constituents from Carolina Forest, Conway, and Myrtle Beach attended a Friday morning press conference with Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham and Representative Russell Fry.

They want a town hall.

As Graham began to speak at the press conference, protesters hissed and voiced their discontent for Congress and the current Presidential administration.

“These fire grants and these top grants have made a difference,” Graham said during the press conference. “Now, we’ll apply for a federal grant to get reimbursed here.”

He did not specify which federal grants or where the money would come from other than mentioning that he’s golf partners with President Donald Trump.

When asked at the end of the conference if he would be hosting an in-person town hall anytime soon, Graham replied that he’s going to just keep doing what he’s doing.

“They’ve made their point, I’m making mine,” he said in reference to the protesters. “I’m gonna keep doing what I’m doing to help President Trump. I don’t need a town hall to know what to do.”

Fry said he’s already hosted two in-person town halls in the past month and a tele-town hall, adding that he’s always available to the public.

“We are always accessible to the public,” he said. “All the folks that say ‘town hall, town hall’ they are George Soros funded left-wing agitators and they do this around the country. We do our stuff.”

Carole Bellacera and Diana Huggins adamantly denied Fry’s allegation that they were funded by George Soros to be there.

“We live in Myrtle Beach,” Bellacera said before adding that George Soros does not paid them. “That is some more of that Fox News drivel.”

Huggins said that Fry is the one who knows billionaires.

“We’re just local people, average people,” she said. “We’re retirees from factories, and stores, and she was a veteran from the Air Force.”

Before the press conference was scheduled to start, Carolina Forest resident Reba Henderson said she’s tried calling Fry’s and Graham’s offices multiple times to no avail.

Henderson also said that she didn’t find out about the press conference until Thursday afternoon, noting that more people would’ve shown up if they had known about it.

“We want town hall meetings,” she said. “We want to be able to express our concerns, that’s the first thing. The second thing that we are very concerned about is the possible elimination or reduction of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.”

Conway, SC resident Peggy Kraft, agreed with Henderson. She stood next to someone on one side who held a sign that said “Make lying wrong again,” and someone on her other side who held a sign that said, “Fight fires, not the poor.”

The conference was scheduled to start at 10:30 a.m. on Friday morning in front of the Carolina Forest Recreation Center.

According to Horry County spokesperson Mikayla Moskov, the county did not set up the outdoor press conference in front of Horry County fire trucks.

This story was originally published March 7, 2025 at 11:18 AM.

Elizabeth Brewer

The Sun News

828-237-1377

Elizabeth covers local government and politics in Myrtle Beach and holds truth to power as the accountability reporter. She’s lived in five states and holds a masters degree in Journalism.