Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) defended Darline Graham after she flubbed an answer on national security during a debate last week, saying he is “very confident” she is still qualified to be senator.

“It’s one of the reasons why I waited 30 days to make sure that I felt like she was ready,” Scott said on Sunday’s episode of “Meet The Press.” “I can tell you as the senior senator for the great state of South Carolina, the person I want in the Senate with me, Darline Graham, representing the people of South Carolina.”

Graham, who has no political experience, was appointed to fill her brother Lindsey Graham’s seat after he died last month, and is now running to serve a full term. She failed to win the Republican primary, so now she’s facing Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) in a runoff election on Tuesday.

But during a debate last week, when Darline Graham was asked if Taiwan or the South China Sea were national security threats, she admitted she wasn’t informed on national security.

“I’m just going to be honest here. I’m not that informed on national security,” Graham said. “But I do support the military. My brother was in the Air Force for 33 years, so I will do everything I can to support the military.”

Despite this, Scott said Sunday that Graham is “the real deal.” And on Friday, President Donald Trump told his supporters in a South Carolina rally that she should serve the full term.

“Darline is somebody I’ve known for a long time, I asked her to do this,” Trump said. “I said, ‘Darline, you got to do it because everyone loves her. Everyone respects her.’ I’ve known her through Lindsey. I think Lindsey respected Darline more than any other person he knows, including me.”

Scott said Trump did a “fabulous job” of making his speech about Darline Graham “personal.”

“He talked about his amazing relationship with Lindsey Graham and how much time Lindsey Graham spent running around the world trying to make sure that Americans were safe here at home, but mostly abroad as well,” Scott said. “And then he pivoted to Darline Graham. And he said some really important things.”

During his typical chaotic speech, Trump told the Friday crowd Darline Graham “knows politics well” and she “loves things that have to do with greatness for America.”

“I think she’s going to do phenomenally,” Trump said. “I really think it’s amazing. You know, she’s never done it before, but she knows politics well. But she loves things. She loves our military. She loves things that have to do with greatness for America.”

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