SC’s Graham, Harrison square off in first Senate debate over COVID-19, Supreme Court
Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham’s Democratic challenger Jaime Harrison said Saturday night that President Donald Trump isn’t to blame for the initial outbreak of COVID-19 in the United States.
But where blame should be directed is how federal and state leaders managed the disease that has so far claimed more than 200,000 American lives, he said.
“We need a strategy, a 50-state strategy, and the failure of leadership — again, we’re not blaming anybody for the inception of this — but the failure of leadership of addressing this,” Harrison said. “We failed to act. The Senate failed to act. The White House failed to act. The governors failed to act. We need leaders who are going to step up and act.”
A three-term incumbent, Graham called the potentially fatal respiratory disease “serious,” acknowledging Harrison’s loss of a relative to the disease. But he also said, ”we have to move on as a nation,” focusing, on getting a vaccine, drug therapies and confirming the president’s U.S. Supreme Court justice nominee, Amy Coney Barrett.
“It will be done safely, but I’ve got a job to do and I’m pressing on,” said Graham, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will vet Barrett for the post.
The exchange was one of several in an hour-long debate and the first for the two candidates. Harrison quickly went on the attack, mostly criticizing Graham and Republicans while pledging to put partisan politics aside to help the state’s residents, while Graham criticized Democratic leaders, calling them “nuts” for their immigration and law enforcement policies, and defended his own record, characterizing himself as someone who knows South Carolinians, having grown up living in the back of a pool hall and bar.
The debate Saturday night at Allen University, a historically Black school in Columbia, took place while President Donald Trump was still admitted to the hospital for treatment for the coronavirus. There was no audience in the room out of COVID-19 concerns. Harrison had a large transparent partition installed next to his lectern, and the candidates were spread 13 feet apart to maintain proper social distancing among other measures.
Graham has been in the presence of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 in recent weeks including Senator Mike Lee of Utah during a Judiciary committee hearing this past week. Graham was tested for COVID-19 and said his results were negative.
Both Graham and Harrison wore masks onto the stage, but removed them for the debate, and put them on as the debate concluded.
The candidates answered a range of questions on policing, social security, Medicaid expansion, infrastructure, negative ads, climate change and more.
But the focus often came back to COVID-19, where Harrison also criticized Graham for opposing an extension of unemployment benefits for Americans out of work.
Graham also deflected criticism over the coronavirus, pointing to protests in the streets.
“The one thing I find odd, nobody asked me, ‘How are you doing Sen. Graham when 200 people showed up at my house and broke my window,’” Graham said. “My liberal Democratic friends never mention the virus when people are roaming around the streets, rioting and burning down cop cars and breaking windows. It is a problem. It’s a problem for the nation. It is something we’re going to get through, but I promise you we’re not going to stop doing our job in Washington.”
The debate between the three-term incumbent and the former state Democratic Party chairman was sometimes testy as each battled to move the needle in what polls have suggested is a tight race. Harrison, a newcomer to running for political office but no stranger to politics on a national scale — he worked for U.S. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, lobbied in Washington, D.C., and held leadership positions in the Democratic National Committee — was quick to criticize Graham for reversals in his thinking on filling Supreme Court nominations and term limits.
Harrison attacked Graham for going back on his word to term limit himself. “If you change your mind just admit — don’t duck and dodge,” Harrison said. “I will never never, never, never lie to you,” Harrison pledged to viewers. “I’m not going to go back on my word.”
Graham sought to connect Harrison to more high-profile figures of the Democratic party such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, including bringing up an endorsement from U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez of New York. And he also repeated that large amounts of money are coming from out of state to fund Harrison’s campaign. Both campaigns have raised tens of millions of dollars and have received much of their contributions from out of state.
Harrison went on the offensive about Graham’s record while in the Senate, saying he only has been able to pass three bills and has been unable to help to make Interstate 73 come to fruition in the northeast part of the state.
But in a post debate email, Graham’s campaign countered that Graham has sponsored or co-sponsored 61 pieces of legislation that have become law, including funding for the Port of Charleston.
The debate also touched on police reforms, and Graham repeatedly pledged to stand behind police while warning that Democratic policies would turn the country into a socialist nation.
Graham said he did not believe police are systemically racist, but said there is a need for police reform referring to legislation proposed by U.S. Sen. Tim Scott — the Senate’s only Black Republican — which stalled in the Senate.
“The cops need our support,” Graham said. “Reform the cops? Yes. Defund them? No. ... If You need more money for social programs. I’ll work with you, but cutting the cops’ budget puts poor people at risk more than anything else.”
Harrison said he was against the so-called defund-the-police movement, mentioning his grandfather was a police officer. He added community members and police have to work together to address issues within law enforcement.
“I understand there are good police out there, that are working in order to protect and serve,” Harrison said. “But I also understand there are some bad apples because there is an entire community that is fearful when sometimes a blue light is behind them because they don’t know if they’re going to have their lives after the interaction.”
A second debate between Graham and Harrison has been rescheduled for Oct. 9. It was originally set for Oct. 12 when the Senate Judiciary Committee will start its confirmation hearings for Barrett, who Graham called “one of the most qualified people in the history of the nation” to be nomination.
This story was originally published October 3, 2020 at 9:18 PM with the headline "SC’s Graham, Harrison square off in first Senate debate over COVID-19, Supreme Court."
