Trump campaigning in South Carolina: Calling on supporters to "pretend I'm on the ballot" to boost Republican electoral support

When U.S. President Trump campaigned for Republican U.S. Senator Darline Graham Nordone's party primary in South Carolina on the 21st, he introduced a new vote-driving method: asking supporters to "pretend" that he is on the ballot and come out to vote for the candidate he endorses. The party primary in South Carolina also unexpectedly became a touchstone for examining Trump's influence on Republican voters.

Bloomberg and The Hill reported that Trump said at a rally in South Carolina on the 21st, "They said that when Trump was on the ballot (that is, running), he performed very well, but when he was not on the ballot, his supporters did not come out and voted for senators and representatives... So, what I really want you to do is to pretend that I am on the ballot and just come out and vote."

Trump's calls for votes and the unsatisfactory performance of the 62-year-old Nordorn, who he supported, when asked about the relationship between the United States and Taiwan during the primary debate recently, made the primary election an unexpected touchstone to examine Trump's influence on Republican voters in this extremely conservative state. Trump won the 2024 presidential election in South Carolina by nearly 18 percentage points. According to Civiqs tracking polls, his current support in the state is 42%.

Nodorn, who has never run for or held elected office, is the sister of the late Republican U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham. After her brother's death, she was appointed to serve on an interim basis until the end of his term. She failed to win the special primary outright earlier this month and is therefore vying for the party's nomination with Representative Ralph Norman.

As the Republican Party seeks to retain its majority in the Senate and House of Representatives in the midterm elections, Trump is trying to increase Republican voters' enthusiasm for voting by "pretending I'm on the ballot". However, this appeal may also help the Democratic Party, which has been trying to tie Republican candidates in swing states to Trump. Trump's poll support has declined amid economic headwinds such as the Iran war that has pushed up U.S. retail gasoline prices. This makes it even more important for the Republican Party to recruit core supporters to counter the actively mobilized Democratic voters.

Trump also warned his supporters at a rally on the 21st that if the Republican Party loses its majority in Congress, the Democratic Party will push to impeach him. "I will be impeached, they will impeach me, and they have no idea why (impeachment)." He also called on Republicans to make the midterm election vote "so large that it cannot be manipulated." "I'm on the ballot, we're all on the ballot, our country is on the ballot," he said.