A protester interrupted the Trump Myrtle Beach rally at about 7:28 p.m. EDT Friday (4:28 a.m. PKT Saturday). U.S. President Donald Trump was campaigning for Sen. Darline Graham before the Aug. 25 Republican runoff.
Police and Myrtle Beach Convention Centre staff escorted the protester from the venue, according to a White House pool report. Trump paused, watched the removal and said the person was “going home to mom” because “mom is voting for us.”
Trump then returned to his turnout message, urging supporters to vote for Graham even though his own name is not on the ballot. He asked the crowd to “pretend, please, that I’m on the ballot” and stressed the importance of participating in Tuesday’s runoff.
The rally in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, in the southeastern United States, was part of the contest for a U.S. Senate seat in Washington, D.C. Graham faces U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman in the Republican special primary runoff, according to the Associated Press and the South Carolina State Election Commission.
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Trump said Graham would support lower taxes, higher pay, tighter immigration enforcement, Second Amendment rights and the U.S. military. He also said he had personally encouraged her to run.
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Graham later joined Trump onstage and thanked him for his endorsement and for his friendship with her late brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham.
The Aug. 25 runoff will determine the Republican nominee for the Nov. 3 general election. The winner will face Democratic nominee Annie Andrews.
