IN THE DARK

Republican Senators Leak Doubts About MAGA Enigma Darline Graham

While rumors swirl about where the country’s newest senator stands, she has remained mostly mum.

Newly sworn-in Sen. Darline Graham Nordone’s colleagues are still not entirely sure what type of senator she will be.

While her late brother, Lindsey Graham, was well known on both a personal and political level on both sides of the aisle, senators have indicated that his sister is still a mystery to them.

During a closed-door lunch with Senate Republicans this week, when her committee assignments were announced, her GOP colleagues told Politico that Graham did not speak. They said that they do not quite know what she stands.

Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, the No. 2 Senate Republican, also admitted he had not “had a discussion on each of the policy issues with her.”

Even Republicans local to South Carolina, which she now represents, are saying the same.

“I don’t think anybody really knows who she is quite yet,” Jeff Davis, chair of the Greenville County Republican Party, told Politico.

“But she is her own person and different than Lindsey Graham,” he added. “So from our perspective, we’re certainly willing to give her the opportunity and chance, you know, to prove herself to us.”

Upon being sworn into office, she released a statement in which she said she was “not Lindsey” and had her “own way of doing things.”

And while she has taken over pushing for a bipartisan Russia sanctions bill, she later said that she planned to focus on domestic issues, unlike her brother, who was keenly focused on foreign affairs, especially regarding war with Iran and pushing military and financial aid to Ukraine.

On the domestic front, she appears to be on board with parts of President Donald Trump’s agenda. The first piece of legislation that she co-sponsored was the Senate version of MAGA’s doomed voter legislation, the SAVE America Act.

“The American people are demanding immediate action from Congress on election integrity. That’s why the SAVE America Act is the first bill I am cosponsoring in the Senate,” she said in a statement.

Despite the political uncertainties, Trump has already given her his “Complete and Total endorsement” for a full-term, which she said she intends to run for in November, even as two House Republicans have mounted a challenge to her bid.

“During her visit, I asked Darline, for the Good of our Nation, to run for the U.S. Senate,” the president wrote. “I hope Darline does this, in that there would be nobody better to honor the legacy of her beloved brother, Lindsey.”

Trump added, “RUN, DARLINE, RUN!”

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Annabella RosciglioneReporter

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