Trump Uses Anti-Trans Slur Against Senate Candidate Annie Andrews

Former President Donald Trump repeatedly used an anti-trans slur against South Carolina Democratic Senate candidate Annie Andrews on Monday, while urging residents to vote for Republican incumbent Darline Graham.

"Annie ‘Trannie’ Andrews is running against our wonderful Darline Graham for the Senate in South Carolina," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social, endorsing Graham, the sister of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham.

Trump continued to use the slur multiple times, stating, "Darline is a High Quality person, maybe the Highest, and Annie Trannie is not, in particular, as it pertains to representing the Values of the Great People of South Carolina — She is in favor of Transgender for Everyone, Open Borders, Defunding the Police, High Taxes, a Weak Military, and will absolutely fight to take your guns away — In other words, she is against our Great Second Amendment!"

He concluded, "Trannie is not for South Carolina, and South Carolina must show, in the upcoming Election, that it is not for her."

Andrews, a pediatrician, is trailing in the race to become the first Democrat elected to the Senate from South Carolina since 1998. However, recent polling averages from RealClearPolitics indicate Graham leads by a narrow 2.4 percentage points.

Andrews did not directly address Trump's comments in a subsequent post on X. Instead, she focused on her campaign platform, writing, "As a mom and a pediatrician, I’m in this race to fight for my patients, my three kids, and South Carolina. And I’m going to work with anyone to put South Carolina first, because lowering costs and making life better for families across our state is going to take all of us working together."

She added, "If you care more about your bills than the politics in Washington, this campaign is for you."

Former Republican South Carolina Governor David Beasley described Trump's remarks as "abhorrent." Beasley, who served as the state's governor from 1995 to 1999, stated, "Elections don’t have to be about cruelty and lies. South Carolina deserves better. I urge voters to look at the merits of each candidate and cast their vote accordingly. We must reject politics based on division and hate. While South Carolinians can strongly disagree with one another, we can do so civilly and with honest intentions for the betterment of our communities and well being of our families."