Trump says SC’s Graham couldn’t have won without him. Did he impact the senator’s race?

Former President Donald Trump said U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham would not have been elected if not for the Republican presidential nominee’s endorsement. But many factors played a role in the senior senator’s 2020 reelection campaign.

In an interview with CBS News, Trump was asked about Graham’s recent comments about how “Trump the showman” would not help the former president return to the White House.

“I like Lindsey, I don’t care what he says,” Trump told reporter Caitlin Huey-Burns.

In an interview on Meet the Press Sunday morning, Graham, like several other Republicans, encouraged Trump to focus on policy when criticizing Vice President Kamala Harris and avoid the personal attacks.

“President Trump can win this election,” Graham told host Kristen Welker. “His policies are good for America and if you have a policy debate for president, he wins. Donald Trump, the provocateur, the the showman may not win this election. So I’m looking for President Trump to show up in the last 80 days to define what he will do for our country, to fix broken borders, to lower inflation.”

In a statement to The State on Tuesday, Graham defended his comments about Trump’s approach and how the focus should be on Harris’ policies.

“As always, I have tried to give President Trump my honest opinion; I am all in for President Trump. I look forward to campaigning for him particularly in South Carolina and our neighbor, Georgia, a swing state,” Graham said. “It is time for us to be unified and focus on the big prize, which is defeating Kamala Harris, taking back the White House and the Senate, and maintaining the Republican majority in the House.”

In Trump’s brief comments about Graham during the CBS News interview, he also takes credit for Graham being in office.

“Lindsey would not have been elected if I didn’t endorse him,” Trump said.

Even though Graham had primary challengers in 2020, he didn’t face a truly serious competitor. Graham carried more than 67% of the vote.

In the lead up to the general election, polls showed a tight race between Graham and Democratic nominee Jaime Harrison. However, South Carolina is a reliably Republican state, which first elected Graham to the Senate in 2002.

In 2022, Republicans won every statewide elected office on the ballot.

Graham also won his election by 10 points in 2020 over Harrison, who is now Democratic National Committee chairman. Harrison raised more than $132 million for his campaign, according to Federal Election Commission records.

Graham also was the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman when Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died. Graham chaired Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation hearings, which took place in October 2020 allowing him to be on television earning free media.

It also helped Graham raise more money for his own reelection campaign, who raised more than $112 million during the cycle, according to FEC records.

The COVID-19 pandemic also kept Democrats from door knocking to help turn voters out to the polls, while Republicans continued with the campaign tactic.

The state also has straight party ticket voting, which Republicans in South Carolina have outperformed Democrats on in the last several cycles.

Even though Graham was critical of Trump during the 2016 presidential election, the two became allies and often golf together.

During a July 2023 Trump visit to Pickens, the crowd booed Graham when he took the stage. When Trump visited Summerville in September 2023 and uttered Graham’s name, the crowd booed again.

“He helps me on the left,” Trump said during the Summerville rally.