Lindsey Graham in Debate Forum: Black People Can Go Anywhere in South Carolina If They're 'Not Liberal'

[The Last OutlawHead Administrator]

Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who is facing a competitive re-election campaign, said Friday that Black Americans "can go anywhere in this state" if they're conservative.

During a debate forum with Democratic challenger Jaime Harrison, Graham was asked about the civil unrest across the nation and in South Carolina surrounding police reform and systemic racism. He implied that Black people will only be successful in the state if they are conservative.

"I care about everybody," Graham said. "If you're a young African American, an immigrant, you can go anywhere in this state, you just need to be conservative, not liberal."

Graham is in a dead heat in polling with Harrison, who is Black.

The South Carolina senator pointed to Sen. Tim Scott – the state's other U.S. senator, and only Black Republican senator – as well as former Gov. Nikki Haley, as people of color who can be successful if they share the state's "values."

"But one thing I can say without any doubt, you can be an African American and go to the Senate, you just have to share the values of our state," Graham said. "Folks, it's not about the color of your skin or where you came from, it's about your ideas."

Graham, who said he supports police reform but doesn't believe police are “systemically racist,” went on to criticize Harrison. He said his opponent is going to lose "not because of race, but because he's aligned with the most liberal people in the country."

Harrison, during his segment of the forum, was also asked about civil unrest and police brutality. He noted that he supports a national register that discloses "bad police officers," having a national standard of force and demilitarizing the police.

"There are some bad apples in the system that need to be rooted out. We need to bring some accountability to the system," he said.

The debate, which would have been the second between the two candidates, was canceled after Graham rejected taking a COVID-19 test. The two, instead, were asked questions separately at the Spartanburg studios of WSPA-TV. Harrison was asked questions for the first half of the one-hour forum, while Graham answered questions in the last half.

WOW!  You can only be successful in South Carolina only if you have Conservative values?  Is Lindsey Graham serious?  This is why I believe that Lindsey Graham needs to be voted out in November.  If you're African-American, you should be able to have success regardless to your values.  Democrat or Republican, Liberal or Conservative, not even your skin color should be a factor in how successful one can be.  As long as people like Lindsey Graham have that voice and that kind of thinking, America as a whole will remain where we are as a people and worse!  Need proof, all you need to do is see where we are with this unrest in the country.  All you have to do is go backwards from that.  Look at how many African-Americans who have been either shot and/or killed by trigger-happy police who want to shoot first and ask questions never.  All you have to see is the people out there protesting this and pleading for proper and equal justice.

Bottom line: if AMERICA wants to be successful (again), we as a people (regardless of skin color) must change our mindset.  While doing so, we must change our hearts as well.  In order to do so, we must eliminate the hatred and division that is driving our country apart.  And people like a Lindsey Graham are not helping the cause.

Just Saying.