Trump rallygoers boo Lindsey Graham off the stage in home-state speech
A rowdy crowd of South Carolina conservatives rained boos and catcalls on their home-state Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham Saturday, as he sought to praise former President Donald Trump during a hurried 5-minute speech.
“Calm down for a second … I was born in this county,” Graham pleaded amid jeers and calls of “traitor!”
![A rowdy crowd of South Carolina conservatives booed their home-state Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham on Saturday during his speech.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000013466508.jpg?w=1024)
![Lindsey Graham](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/2023-07-01T195705Z_1472242566_RC2FU1AJR9W1_RTRMADP_3_USA-ELECTION-TRUMP.jpg?w=1024)
![A man gives a thumbs down gesture and boos at Lindsey Graham during MAGA rally](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/2023-07-01T195431Z_1051289541_RC2FU1AV7J26_RTRMADP_3_USA-ELECTION-TRUMP.jpg?w=1024)
An estimated 30,000 conservatives had swarmed the streets of the tiny town of Pickens to see Trump — who made its Independence Day celebration the center of his campaign effort in the early-voting state’s 2024 primary — and had little patience for Graham.
“I found common ground with President Trump,” the senator insisted, as the taunts continued. “It took a while to get there … but I’ve come to like President Trump, and he likes himself. And we’ve got that in common.”
![Trump remains hugely popular in rural areas like Pickens, in the northwest corner of the state.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000013441916.jpg?w=1024)
![Supporters of former President Donald Trump wait in line before a presidential campaign event on July 1, 2023, in Pickens, South Carolina.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000013462344.jpg?w=1024)
![MAGA crown in Pickens](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/2023-07-01T195730Z_1948815509_RC2FU1A8KPXL_RTRMADP_3_USA-ELECTION-TRUMP.jpg?w=1024)
Trump remains hugely popular in rural areas like Pickens, in the northwest corner of the state, which will conduct the South’s first presidential primary next year — with two South Carolina Republicans, former Gov. Nikki Haley, and Sen. Tim Scott, on the ballot as well.
Graham, an on-again, off-again Trump ally, begged his own donors to give cash to Trump in the wake of his April indictment by Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg — but his past criticism of Trump’s policies and demeanor continues to rankle the former president’s most devoted supporters.