Black South Carolina Democrat Jaime Harrison is gaining traction in a race for the Senate seat currently occupied by Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, and Harrison, in part, has Graham’s mouth to thank for the gains.
The Republican lawmaker agreed with President Donald Trump comparing an impeachment probe into his conduct with “lynching” Tuesday on Capital Hill.
“This is a lynching in every sense. This is un-American,” Graham told reporters.
He was referencing a whistleblower complaint regarding a July 25 phone call the commander-in-chief made to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Although whistleblowers have the right to remain anonymous to protect them from retaliation, several Republican officials are calling for that person to be revealed.
Trump tweeted Tuesday:
“So some day, if a Democrat becomes President and the Republicans win the House, even by a tiny margin, they can impeach the President, without due process or fairness or any legal rights. All Republicans must remember what they are witnessing here – a lynching. But we will WIN!”
The whistleblower alleged that the president urged Zelensky to investigate former vice president and current Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden, and Biden’s son Hunter, who formerly served on a corporate board of an energy company in Ukraine.
“I’ve never seen a situation in my lifetime as a lawyer where somebody is accused of a major misconduct who cannot confront the accuser, call witnesses on their behalf and have the discussion in the light of day so the public can judge,” Graham told reporters.
He called the impeachment probe “un-American, “a sham” and “a joke.”
“I’m going to let the whole world know that if we were doing this to a Democratic president, you would be all over me right now,” Graham said.
And with those statements, campaign donations started rolling in for Harrison.
He raised $150,000 in donations by Wednesday prompting him to set a goal of $200,000, the attorney said on Twitter.
Just minutes before midnight, he announced he had even topped the new goal.
“Hell yeah! Over $200k in donations since yesterday,” Harrison said in the tweet. “I can feel this movement really starting to take shape and take off🚀and I’m so happy to have ALL OF YOU onboard.”
He also tweeted Thursday:
“No matter what comes out of @LindseyGrahamSC ‘s mouth later today, two things are for sure:
✅ He’s giving in to pressure from Trump.
✅ He’s spending another day in Washington doing absolutely nothing for South Carolina.”
