Trump hurls anti-trans slurs at Graham’s opponent as South Carolina race tightens

President Trump on Monday used an anti-transgender slur several times against Sen. Darline Graham’s (R-S.C.) Democratic opponent Dr. Annie Andrews, as the race for South Carolina’s Senate seat tightens.

“Annie ‘T——‘ Andrews is running against our wonderful Darline Graham for the Senate in South Carolina,” Trump wrote on Truth Social .

The president evoked Graham’s late brother and Senate predecessor, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), to praise her loyalty and describe her as “the finest, most reliable and one of the smartest people I have ever known.” Trump quipped that when the former senator would say these things, it would upset the president “because I thought I had all of those qualities.”

“In any event, Darline is a High Quality person, maybe the Highest, and Annie T—— is not, in particular, as it pertains to representing the Values of the Great People of South Carolina — She is in favor of Transgender for Everyone, Open Borders, Defunding the Police, High Taxes, a Weak Military, and will absolutely fight to take your guns away — In other words, she is against our Great Second Amendment!” Trump continued.

He used the slur again in saying that Andrews is “not for South Carolina” before calling on voters to choose Graham.

Andrews, a pediatrician and mother of three, told The Hill after Trump’s post went live that she’s “in this race to fight for my patients, my three kids and South Carolina.”

“And I’m going to work with anyone to put South Carolina first, because lowering costs and making life better for families across our state is going to take all of us working together,” she said in a statement. “If you care more about your bills than the politics in Washington, this campaign is for you.”

If Andrews wins in November, she will become the first pediatrician elected senator, the outlet Motherly wrote as part of an interview with Andrews published in May .

“I want my kids to know they are capable of doing anything they put their minds to,” she told the outlet. “That every fight is worth fighting no matter how difficult it seems. I want them to know I am doing this for them. That they give me the strength I need to keep going.”

Andrews has campaigned on reversing Trump’s policies that have caused prices to soar — in particular healthcare and children’s healthcare costs, The New York Times reported . But she has also softened some of her past campaign positions, including on transgender issues, as she faces a widespread and largely conservative electorate.

She previously said she was against a bill to ban transgender athletes from girls and women’s sports but told the Times that she does not “support biological men playing in women’s sports.”

Election handicapper Cook Political Report shifted the race from “solid Republican” to “likely Republican,” pointing to Graham’s debate flub on foreign policy and Andrews’s low polling numbers. The report credited Andrews with “running a real race” and said this help could make it “a truly competitive contest.”

A Republican official told the Times that Trump plans to campaign for Graham later this month.