Trump rallygoers boo Lindsey Graham off the stage in home-state speech
A rowdy crowd of South Carolina conservatives rained boos and catcalls on their home-state Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham Saturday, as he sought to praise former President Donald Trump during a hurried 5-minute speech.
“Calm down for a second … I was born in this county,” Graham pleaded amid jeers and calls of “traitor!”
!["It took a while to get there ... but I've come to like President Trump, and he likes himself. And we've got that in common," said Sen. Graham.](https://mamardi.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000012639186.jpg)
![An estimated 30,000 conservatives had swarmed the streets of Pickens to see Trump.](https://mamardi.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000013466825.jpg)
An estimated 30,000 conservatives had swarmed the streets of the tiny town of Pickens to see Trump — who made its Independence Day celebration the center of his campaign effort in the early-voting state’s 2024 primary — and had little patience for Graham.
“I found common ground with President Trump,” the senator insisted, as the taunts continued. “It took a while to get there … but I’ve come to like President Trump, and he likes himself. And we’ve got that in common.”
![Trump remains hugely popular in rural areas like Pickens, in the northwest corner of the state.](https://mamardi.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000013441916.jpg)
![Supporters of former President Donald Trump wait in line before a presidential campaign event on July 1, 2023, in Pickens, South Carolina.](https://mamardi.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000013462344.jpg)
![A supporter of former President Donald Trump wears a cowboy hat before a presidential campaign event on July 1, 2023 in Pickens, South Carolina.](https://mamardi.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000013462357.jpg)
Trump remains hugely popular in rural areas like Pickens, in the northwest corner of the state, which will conduct the South’s first presidential primary next year — with two South Carolina Republicans, former Gov. Nikki Haley, and Sen. Tim Scott, on the ballot as well.
Graham, an on-again, off-again Trump ally, begged his own donors to give cash to Trump in the wake of his April indictment by Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg — but his past criticism of Trump’s policies and demeanor continues to rankle the former president’s most devoted supporters.
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