President Trump repeatedly used an anti-trans slur against South Carolina Democratic Senate candidate Annie Andrews Monday while imploring residents of the Palmetto State to vote for Republican incumbent Darline Graham Nordone next month.

“Annie ‘Trannie’ Andrews is running against our wonderful Darline Graham for the Senate in South Carolina,” Trump began a Truth Social post in support of Graham, the sister of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) who was appointed to fill his seat following his unexpected death July 11.

Trump went on to use the term twice more, writing: “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!

Donald Trump used an anti-trans slur against South Carolina Senate candidate Annie Andrews while endorsing Republican incumbent Darline Graham. AP Photo/Tom Brenner

Annie Andrews speaks during a roundtable event on September 9, 2026. USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

“Trannie is not for South Carolina, and South Carolina must show, in the upcoming Election, that it is not for her,” the president went on.

Andrews, a pediatrician who is not trans, is considered an underdog in her quest to become the first Democrat elected to the Senate from South Carolina since 1998. However, the latest RealClearPolitics polling average shows Graham leading by just 2.4 percentage points in the lightly polled race.

The 45-year-old, who unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 2022, has frequently expressed public support for youths who say they are transgender, though she insists she opposes having minors undergo surgery.

“It’s creating a self and welcoming, a safe and welcoming environment for these kids,” Andrews said during a podcast appearance last year. “And then as they reach puberty, gender-affirming care, evidence-based gender-affirming care can include the prescription of hormone blockers, so that they don’t go through puberty as the gender that they do not identify as, and then cross-sex hormones later.”

During the 2022 campaign, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) likened Andrews’ support for medicating trans kids to child abuse. Andrews ultimately took a leave of absence from her job at Medical University of South Carolina’s Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital, later resigning due to what she felt was a lack of support from her employer.

Democratic Senate candidate Annie Andrews speaks during her campaign event Monday, Sept. 21, 2026, at Fireforge Crafted Beer in Greenville, South Carolina. USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

“What disappointed me so deeply,” Andrews told ProPublica in 2023, “was their refusal to support these vulnerable youth in our community by making a statement that gender-affirming care is not child abuse.”

The Democrat did not directly respond to Trump’s attack in a post on X Monday, 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.

“If you care more about your bills than the politics in Washington, this campaign is for you.”

President Donald Trump throws a pen he used to sign an executive order into the crowd at a campaign rally at the Pinnacle Bank Expo Center, Monday, Oct. 5, 2026, in Grand Island, Nebraska. AP Photo/Charlie Riedel

Democratic Senate candidate Dr. Annie Andrews speaks during the Spratt Issues Conference at the Francis Marion University Performing Arts Center in Florence, South Carolina, Saturday, August 22, 2026. Getty Images

Former Republican South Carolina Gov. David Beasley, described the president’s comments as “abhorrent.”

“Elections don’t have to be about cruelty and lies,” wrote Beasley, who served in the state’s top job from 1995 to 1999. “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.”