From Staff Reports

SENECA, S.C. — When U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, R-Seneca, was confronted by guest anchor Jacqui Heinrich on Fox News Sunday on Aug. 4 about presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump’s recent remarks about the racial identify of Vice President Kamala Harris, who is the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Graham said the following:

“Yeah, 30 percent of my state is African-American... So here’s what I would say to [former] President Trump... The problem I have with Kamala Harris is not her heritage, it’s her judgment...

“Every day, we are talking about her heritage — and not her terrible, dangerous liberal record throughout her entire political life.”

Graham, a Trump ally, added, “It’s a good day for her and a bad day for us. I would encourage [former] President Trump to prosecute the case against Kamala Harris’ bad judgment.”

Further, Graham told Heinrich that Trump needs to keep in mind that “this is your election to lose. It’s important to win.”

Challenging Graham’s assertions, Heinrich then asked the senator, “It doesn’t seem like he received that message yet.”

Heinrich added, “ He (Trump) had an introductory speaker last night sort of double down on this conversation. Would you advise that he just stop talking about that?”

In response to Heinrich’s comments and question, Graham answered that his thoughts are as follows:

“I think. Mr. President, this is your election to lose. It’s important to win to reset a broken board and get the world in good order...Let’s win this election. Let’s win an election we can’t afford to lose.”

Meanwhile, Newsweek noted: “The strongest GOP criticism of Trump’s comments about Harris came from former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, who is running against a black woman for a U.S. Senate seat. 

To that end, Newsweek added, “In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Hogan called it ‘unacceptable and abhorrent’ for people to ‘attack Vice President Harris or anyone’s racial identity.’”

Further, Newsweek noted that “former Trump White House director of strategic communications Alyssa Farah Griffin warned on X on Wednesday (July 31) that his (Trump’s) comments won’t just hurt him with the black community since ‘most Americans (but apparently not Trump!) understand the concept of being biracial and that to talk this way about anyone’s race is offensive.’

“One in 10 Americans identify as multiracial, according to the 2020 U.S. census. The demographic has grown exponentially in the past decade, from 9 million people in 2010 to 33.8 million in 2020 — a 276 percent increase.

“Some conservatives have defended Trump and doubled down on his remarks, perpetuating the idea that Harris has not always identified as black.”

Newsweek added, ”Podcaster Benny Johnson posted a clip to X ... of Harris winning a Senate election in 2016 and wrote, ‘Kamala Harris brags about becoming the ‘First Indian Senator in American History’ So...’”