Senator Darline Graham (R-SC) has been widely mocked online after bashing her Democratic rival’s commitment to universal healthcare in her Republican primary victory speech, and then immediately recalling how her parents were forced to work while sick and both died when she was just a child
Graham, who won South Carolina GOP Senate runoff over Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) with President Donald Trump’s backing, used her Tuesday night victory speech to launch her general election campaign against Democratic rival Dr. Annie Andrews, a pediatrician
Andrews has advocated expanding access to healthcare and has described healthcare as a human right, a position Graham attacked in her speech
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“Her views are those of Bernie Sanders and AOC,” Graham said. “If you like Kamala Harris for president, you’re going to love Dr. Annie Andrews.”
But it was Graham’s own family story that drew attention online after a clip from the speech circulated on social media. Moments after trashing Andrews’s healthcare policy agenda, she detailed her own struggles growing up to demonstrate her desire to work for South Carolina voters
“My parents worked long, hard hours. If they were sick, they had to get up and go to work,” she continued. “My mother passed away when I was 11 and my father just over a year later.”
“I understand the struggles facing South Carolina families because I’ve faced them too,” she added
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Graham’s mother died from Hodgkin’s lymphoma at 51, while her father died roughly 15 months later after suffering a heart attack in his sleep. Graham and her late brother, Lindsey Graham, were left without both parents as teenagers
The juxtaposition prompted critics to question what argument Graham was making by presenting her parents’ financial and health struggles as part of her case against Andrews’ healthcare policies:
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But it wasn’t just liberals attacking Graham; the candidate also took some flak from Grace Chong, COO of former Trump aide Steve Bannon’s media company:
Graham is competing to take the seat of her late brother, who served as a U.S. senator for over two decades before his death in July, one month after easily winning the primary for re-election
The post Darline Graham Mocked for Trashing Universal Healthcare Before Making a Bizarre Case for It: ‘Work Nonstop and Die’ first appeared on Mediaite
