Daily Kos88%
Trump loves to keep it in the family—but nepo sisters are new 67%
By Emily Singer88%
7/17/2026, 9:00:00 PM
Topics: Nepotism, US Politics
BS Summary: This article contains 20 faulty reasoning types, including Representativeness Heuristic, Negativity Bias, and Appeal to Authority, with Biased Writer Voice as the most egregious example at 24.6% saturation with 117 hits. Analysis detected 735 faulty-reasoning hits from 476 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 61.3% and a BS Rank of 67% (5,740 of 17,286 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 66.80% of the article peer group.
President Donald Trump already pushed the South Carolina governor to appoint the late-Sen.
Lindsey Graham‘s sister, Darline Graham Nordone, to finish out the remaining six months of his term.
Trump said doing as such would be a tribute to Graham, who raised his sister from the time she was a teenager after both of their parents died, and would often have her alongside him at campaign events and speeches.
But now, Trump is officially putting his thumb on the scale to help Nordone replace her late brother for a full term, endorsing her to be the GOP nominee for the November race.
Nordone has reportedly expressed interest in running for the position.
Of course, it’s unclear whether a Trump endorsement would be enough to get Nordone over the hump in the condensed primary to replace Graham on the ballot, which will take place on Aug.
11.
A number of other Republicans could run, including Reps.
Nancy Mace, Ralph Norman, and Russell Fry, as well as Lt.
Gov.
Pamela Evette, who just came in second in the state’s gubernatorial primary.
And given many of the rumored candidates have established constituencies, fundraising bases to pull from, and records to run on, they would likely have a leg up on her.
Related | Which Republican ghoul will take Lindsey Graham’s spot?
Nordone has none of those assets—just shared blood with her brother, who had been South Carolina’s senior senator for more than 23 years.
In fact, it’s unclear what Nordone’s politics are at all.
Yes, she stood alongside her brother for years.
But according to the 19th—a media outlet that focuses on gender in politics—Nordone has not been an overtly political person.
She has made just one singular political contribution since 1990—a $100 donation to now-former state Sen.
Katrina Shealy, a Republican who lost a GOP primary last month.
Rather than be an overt partisan, Nordone has worked as a disability rights advocate, serving as the head of South Carolina’s Commission for the Blind since 2019, according to the 19th.
“She’s just been there for Lindsey always, but I don’t think she’s really that political,” Shealy told the 19th.
An Emerson College poll released Thursday that surveyed a list of potential Republican primary candidates showed Nordone in seventh place out of eight polled contenders—above Appalachian Trail hiking former Rep.
Mark Sanford and “someone else.”
Trump’s endorsement could change that.
However, South Carolina voters just showed that Trump’s blessing is not the be-all, end-all for them, as Trump had backed Evette in the governor’s race and she lost handily.
If Nordone does, however, run for and win a full-term in the Senate, Nordone would have the title of the first nepo sister, as she was not Graham’s scion but rather his sibling.
What a time to be alive.
Analysis
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