Graham faces primary challenge in South Carolina over Iran policy

Lindsey Graham or send him into a runoff. Graham, seeking a fifth term, has supported U.S. military action against Iran. An InsiderAdvantage poll released Monday showed Graham at 51.2 percent and challenger Mark Lynch at 20.9 percent, with 18.4 percent undecided. A Citadel School of Humanities and Social Sciences survey last week placed Graham at 46 percent and Lynch at 36 percent.

Campaign positions Lynch, an appliance repair executive, has criticized Graham for backing foreign aid, interventionist policies, and visa programs that he says favor global interests over American workers. Graham won his 2020 primary with nearly 68 percent of the vote.

President Trump held a tele-rally for Graham on Monday evening and said the United States would declare total victory in the Iran conflict within two weeks. Graham has told voters that fuel prices and inflation will fall once the war ends.

Israel exchanged fire over the weekend for the first time since an early-April ceasefire. Both sides later said the attacks had stopped, though the conflict passed the 100-day mark without a final agreement. Graham stated that U.S. intervention remains necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

He said any costs are preferable to allowing the Iranian regime to threaten Israel and, eventually, the United States.