Trump accused of trying to 'force' Senate candidate on voters as GOP feud erupts

Representative Ralph Norman of South Carolina is publicly refusing to back fellow Republican Darline Graham in the Senate race, accusing President Donald Trump of pushing a favored candidate onto the state's voters. Norman lost a runoff for the GOP nomination to Graham, who was appointed to the seat held by her late brother, Senator Lindsey Graham. The split comes one week before an election that will determine control of Congress for the last two years of Trump's term, and Graham is polling closer than expected in her home state, according to Fox News.

Norman told Fox News Digital by text message that he will not campaign with or for Graham regardless of who asks. He said her campaign manager approached his chief of staff about a joint appearance and he turned it down. He argued that voters will not accept being told to settle for a nominee boosted by special interest groups and by a president spending millions on misleading messaging. He closed with the line "Elections have consequences."

Other House Republicans are pressing him to relent. Representative Russell Fry, who also lost his bid for the nomination, told reporters, according to Politico, that Norman should join the fight.

Summarized by PolitiKool from Fox News’s reporting. Read the full story at Fox News →