Trump Dives Into South Carolina Primary
The president wades into his first GOP primary since his setback in Alabama.
By David Catanese, Senior Politics Writer |Oct. 16, 2017, at 4:18 p.m.
President Donald Trump's trip to South Carolina Monday in support of Gov. Henry McMaster's reelection bid is his first official foray into the 2018 midterm elections on behalf of one of his earliest key supporters.
McMaster was the first statewide politician in the country to endorse Trump's presidential campaign – an act that the president has gushed about frequently. Trump's selection of former Gov. Nikki Haley to become U.N. ambassador was seen as a way to elevate McMaster to the governorship, a rewarding capstone to a lifelong political career.
But now the 70-year-old McMaster is trying to win a full term, competing in a Republican primary campaign against a surprisingly strong opponent who is co-opting some of the president's own rhetoric to deploy against the governor.
Catherine Templeton, a 46-year-old former South Carolina Labor Department director, has fought McMaster to nearly a draw in fundraising, even Link to tweet
" target="_blank">outraising the incumbent over the last quarter. She's taken to using the Trump-inspired Twitter hashtag #DrainTheSwamp to bemoan the stench of corruption consuming the statehouse. And she's positioning herself as the disruptive political outsider who has more in common with Trump than his own candidate.
"I do think Templeton has the capabilities to be a major factor in this," says Drew Johnson, a former GOP chairman of the 5th Congressional District and longtime activist attending the Trump event.
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