PENDLETON, S.C.–President Donald Trump’s midterm campaign tour continued with a rally to support Republican candidates on Wednesday, with thousands waiting in line for hours, including at least a dozen protesters who snuck into the event to disrupt the proceedings.
He pleaded with voters to turn out in force for the midterm elections on Nov. 3, just as if he were running, because his policies could be overturned by opposition leaders.
“I really am on the ballot because we did so many things: greatest tax cuts, the strongest border we’ve ever had,” Trump told a packed audience at Clemson University’s T. Ed Garrison Arena. “All these things, it can go away as fast as it came. So please go out and vote.”
Americans will soon decide whether Republicans keep control of both chambers of Congress, and with less than a handful of seats potentially determining the outcome, Trump told the crowd the fate of the nation is in their hands.
“We’ve already made unbelievable progress, and now we will reach new levels of greatness,” he said, anticipating victory.
The president was in the state, for the second time this year, to support Republican Darline Graham, sister of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), in her race against Democratic pediatrician Dr. Annie Andrews.
After the longtime senator died unexpectedly in June, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster appointed the younger Graham to replace her brother. She subsequently emerged victorious in a contentious primary and run-off against Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.).
Graham warned the audience that Andrews winning could “turn South Carolina blue.” The Democratic challenger raised more than $9 million to the Republican’s approximately $2.5 million, with recent polling data suggesting the race leans slightly in Graham’s favor.
Trump and Graham criticized her opponent as pro-transgender, with the president pointing to remarks Andrews made in the past.
Andrews’s campaign ran ads denouncing the characterization of her ideology.
“So I want you to hear me loud and clear: I don’t support biological men playing women’s sports, and I don’t support, and haven’t ever performed, gender surgery for minors,” the mother of three said in the ad.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, born and raised in the Palmetto State, touted Trump’s achievements, including increasing domestic oil and gas production to levels that exceed Russia and Saudi Arabia’s output combined.
“Our best days are still the ones we’re building, creating an even better America for the children of South Carolina,” Bessent said.
Clemson alum professional golfer Jacob Bridgeman, who clinched the President’s Cup for team U.S.A. with a putt in September, turned up the volume in the arena with a “Tigers” chant.
Evander Holyfield, former undisputed heavyweight champion, made a surprise appearance to support Trump.
He spoke briefly, thanking the president for the opportunity and for the friendship they built over the years.
One unidentified attendee landed a punch on Wednesday, disrupting a would-be protester who stood up and screamed, prompting Trump to describe the action and recreate the sequence with his hands to the energetic crowd.
“That was incredible,” he said. “You reminded me of Evander.”
Protesters interrupted the rally throughout the more than 90-minute address, with at least 10 individuals escorted out by police. At least one yelled for the release of the Epstein files, while others challenged the administration’s foreign policies and raised inflation- and gas-price-related complaints.
Trump dismissed them as “paid protesters.”
The president appeared in North Carolina on Tuesday and Kansas on Monday, part of a whirlwind month-long tour of the nation to coalesce momentum behind his party’s candidates. He next travels to Iowa, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, and Texas, with less than two weeks remaining before the final ballots are cast.
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