‘Where are you?’: In SC, Graham hits Harrison for silence on Barrett’s qualifications
With the shine of completing Supreme Court nominee’s Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation hearings, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham faced a crowd of supporters Friday and called on his Democratic opponent Jaime Harrison to say whether he would support the judge.
The line of attack comes as Republicans are poised to confirm Barrett as President Donald Trump’s third Supreme Court appointee — an act that Republicans and Graham surely hope will prove a potent rallying cry for their GOP base and turn out supporters to the polls next month.
“The hearing has been accomplished,” Graham said to reporters after speaking to about 40 supporters at a Get out the Vote rally outside a satellite polling place in North Charleston.
“The facts are in about Judge Barrett. Mr. Harrison, where are you? Where are you going to be? Tell the people of South Carolina, would you vote for this fine lady or will you join the crowd that says ‘no’? ”
Harrison has previously said he would like to ask Barrett questions before taking a stance. In a statement from the Harrison campaign on Friday, the former S.C. Democratic Party chairman continued to criticize Graham for caring more about the court appointment than on sending relief to Americans struggling in the pandemic.
“For the sake of South Carolina families and businesses, I wish Sen. Graham treated COVID relief with just a small fraction of the urgency as he did with this Supreme Court vacancy,” Harrison said. “His rush to advance this nomination this week also proved once again that Lindsey Graham’s word is utterly meaningless, as someone who promised on more than one occasion that he wouldn’t rush a nomination this close to a presidential election. South Carolina voters understand where his values and priorities lie.”
In his statement, Harrison did not say whether he would vote to confirm Barrett.
Graham, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, led the Barrett hearings this week as Senate Republicans look to confirm her shortly before the Nov. 3 presidential election.
Graham’s supporters cheered as he mentioned Barrett.
“Judge Barrett is giving hope to every young woman who suffers at times being conservative, unashamedly pro-life, embracing their faith,” Graham said. “So I want to thank President Trump for nominating Judge Barrett. I want to thank the Republicans on the committee for acting as a team, and I appreciate that this was not a Kavanaugh hearing to my Democratic colleagues.”
Joining Graham were S.C. Republican Party Chairman Drew McKissick and State Rep. Nancy Mace, who is running against Democrat Joe Cunningham in South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District.
They held the rally in front of the Graham campaign bus with the masked crowd holding “Fill the Seat” signs.
Graham faces the toughest election battle of his career against Harrison. Both have raised record amounts of cash, and polls have shown the race is close. However, this week the New York Times and the Morning Consult polling outfit have Graham leading by six points.
“Elections matter, Drew,” Graham said. “Without this Senate majority, without President Trump winning in 2016, there would be no Judge Barrett.”
Graham encouraged those in attendance to vote ahead of Election Day now that the state is allowing anyone to vote early because of the ongoing pandemic.
“The reason we need you to vote early is it frees you up to help us close the deal right,” Graham said also encouraging those in the crowd to vote for Mace. “This is a team sport.”
Among those in the crowd was Christi Dixon, 51, of Charleston, a Trump supporter who wore a Nancy Mace shirt, with a Lindsey Graham sticker.
“They share my values, I have traditional American values,” Dixon said. “Conservatism, family, we support our law enforcement. But we also believe in fair treatment for everyone, and I believe that our platform really does that across the board.”
This story was originally published October 16, 2020 at 2:17 PM with the headline "‘Where are you?’: In SC, Graham hits Harrison for silence on Barrett’s qualifications."
