Could a Democrat Beat Sen. Lindsey Graham?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: What is it that makes you think for the first time in 17 years, nearly 18 years, you’re going to be able to unseat Senator Graham?

JAIME HARRISON (D-SC), U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE: Well, Christiane, first of all, you know, I grew up in long odds. I’m the son of 16-year-old mom who had to stop to school to take care of me. I grew in a family with not much education and not much money. And despite it all, despite those long odds, I went to Yale in Georgetown and worked on Capitol Hill and became the first black chair of the state party. And so, you know, that is a uniquely American story. It’s a story that you can rise up from the very lowest ranks and rise to the tops. Well, in this race, folks have given me long odds. And they said that, you know, you can’t beat history. But what folks don’t understand is that we are making history in this race. I have outraised Lindsey Graham in the last two quarters. I raised $14 million in the last quarter, more than any other candidate in the country right now, with the only exception of one. And so, we are well on our way to making history here in South Carolina. We’ve got a campaign on the ground like we have never seen in the Democratic Party with over 5,000 volunteers. And so, this is about closing the chapter on the old south, which Lindsey is a part of, and opening and writing a whole new book called the new south, one that is bold, that inclusive and diverse. And that’s what we’re building here, Christiane, and that’s why I’m so excited about the prospects moving forward.

AMANPOUR: Do you think, Jaime Harrison, that there’s something about the timing, the time wherein the historic moment in the United States, and frankly are not a the world, the pandemic, you know, the racial uprising for justice, you know, all of the things, the economic, you know, disaster that we’re seeing as well. I mean, obviously, South Carolina has been very, very badly hit by COVID, one of the worst-hit in the world if you account for numbers and population. Is there something about that that is also, you know, having people question the current leadership?

HARRISON: Yes, Christiane, you know, the stars are aligning here. And I think you add to the fact that the guy I’m running against, Lindsey Graham, has changed. As you can recall, when John McCain was alive, Lindsey Graham was somebody that we all respected regardless of your party. You may not have agreed with him all the time, but you had respect for him because you thought he could rise above the fray. He really helped parties come. But that’s a different guy from the guy that I’m running, yes, right now. This Lindsey Graham hasn’t been home to do an in-person town hall in almost three years. You know, he has said over our dead bodies will he allow a federal extension of unemployment benefits.