Trump Calls on South Carolina Governor To Appoint Lindsey Graham’s Sister as New Senator

President Trump says South Carolina’s governor, Henry McMaster, should appoint Senator Lindsey Graham’s younger sister to serve out the remainder of his term following his sudden passing over the weekend. The Republican majority leader, Senator John Thune, said he supports such a move. Graham’s office announced the longtime senator’s death in a brief statement on Sunday morning, leaving many stunned. He had just returned from a trip to Ukraine where he met with President Zelensky. He spoke with Mr. Trump by phone just hours before he passed. Later in the day on Sunday, the Washington, D.C., medical examiner’s office said Graham had likely suffered an aortic dissection, leading to his swift passing.Graham was seeking a fifth term in the Senate at the time of his death and had won the Republican primary last month, with high expectations of easy re-election. A new primary must be held in August to pick a new GOP nominee for the fall. Before that happens, Governor Henry McMaster must appoint someone to fill the Senate seat until the end of the term, ending in January 2027. On Monday, Mr. Trump proclaimed that Graham’s sister, Darline Graham Nordone, who is nine years younger than the senator, should take the job, even if temporarily. “I recommended, to Governor Henry McMaster, Lindsey Graham’s wonderful sister, Darline, to serve as interim Senator from the Great State of South Carolina,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social. “This would be a fabulous tribute to Lindsey, who loved her dearly!”Mr. Thune agreed. In an interview with CNN on Monday, he said it would “make a lot of sense” for Ms. Nordone to take the job. “I’ll let the governor make an announcement,” Mr. Thune said. “I think in many respects it would be a way of extending Lindsey’s legacy here and certainly something that, if that’s what they decide to end up doing, I think there’d be a lot of support for it.”Mr. McMaster is set to make an announcement naming Graham’s successor on Monday afternoon. A person familiar with the appointment process but not authorized to speak about it publicly told the Associated Press that the interim senator would be sworn in on Wednesday. South Carolina’s other senator, Tim Scott, who the person said had spoken with Graham’s sister multiple times since his death, planned to be at Mr. McMaster’s announcement. Not much is known about Ms. Nordone’s professional life, other than she previously worked at the state’s Vocational Rehabilitation Department, which helps people with disabilities find jobs. She and her husband Larry Nordone have two daughters. Graham and his sister were exceptionally close, as he said often. The two grew up poor in rural South Carolina, where their parents owned a bar before both Graham’s mother and father passed away at young ages. Graham’s father died of a heart attack just 15 months after Graham’s mother died of cancer. At that point, Graham was just 21 years old and was forced to raise his sister as his own. She was 13 years old at the time. Graham later adopted her. “One of my fondest memories is Lindsey teaching me how to ride a bicycle on that sidewalk right over there,” Ms. Nordone said as she was introducing her brother at his presidential campaign launch event in 2015 back in their hometown of Central, South Carolina. “He never made me feel like a burden. He always made me feel so loved.”

Trump Calls on South Carolina Governor To Appoint Lindsey Graham’s Sister as New Senator

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