Trump Expected to Campaign With Sen. Darline Graham Despite Russia Sanctions Dispute
President Trump is expected to campaign with Sen. Darline Graham on Wednesday, NPR reported. The two are not in agreement on how best to pressure Russia to end its war in Ukraine.
Graham is a Republican senator from South Carolina. She is the sister of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, NPR reported. Her brother's name is on the Russia sanctions law at the center of the dispute.
That law is the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act. Trump signed it into law, but NPR reported on October 20 that he had effectively suspended it. On Friday, October 16, Trump signed an executive order waiving sanctions on Russian energy that were passed under the act, The Hill reported.
Graham criticized the decision on Saturday, October 17, for exempting Russia from a sanctions law, The New York Times reported. Ukrainian leader Zelenskiy also criticized the waiver, according to Reuters. Reuters also reported that the administration will continue sanctions relief for Russia beyond the Friday waiver and a diesel export agreement.
Trump's campaign role for Graham began earlier this month. On a Thursday night, Trump held a tele-rally in which he endorsed Graham for the Senate seat and talked about his friendship with her late brother, WLOS reported. During the same call, he urged voters to support Graham, Alan Wilson and congressional candidate Jenny Costa-Honeycutt, ABC News 4 reported.
MS NOW reported that Trump was set to rally in Clemson, South Carolina, on a Wednesday for Graham. It said he had made the plan days after he undercut her position, and that Republicans had poured millions of dollars into a seat they once considered safe.
A recent poll cited by the Greenville News showed a close race in the South Carolina Senate contest, the newspaper reported.
Graham's campaign website lists the general election as Tuesday, November 3, with polls open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. The site describes her as endorsed by Trump.
Congress has been pushing on Russia policy for some time. The Senate passed a Russia sanctions bill that allows tough new tariffs against major importers of Russian energy, NPR reported. PBS NewsHour reported that it took almost a year for Lindsey Graham to persuade Trump to agree to the sanctions package, and that the waiver outraged Congress, PBS reported.
