The precise point Republican US Sen. Darline Graham was making was unclear Tuesday evening when she attacked her Democratic opponent, Dr. Annie Andrews, for supporting what Graham called "government-run healthcare" and then pivoted to the story of her parents' early deaths.
But some observers wondered whether the lawmaker from South Carolina, who took over the Senate seat of her brother, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, last month, was arguing for the continuation of a system in which many Americans can't get the healthcare they need.
Graham, who has worked at the state workforce agency and the South Carolina Commission for the Blind, spoke after winning a special runoff election against US Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC). She was endorsed by President Donald Trump and will now face Andrews, a pediatrician, in the November midterm election for a full Senate term.
Speaking to supporters, Graham criticized Andrews for supporting "bad idea after bad idea," including "government-run healthcare." Andrews has spoken out against the Republican Party's cuts to Medicaid and Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies. Her website states support for "policies like a public option that expand access to affordable healthcare for all South Carolinians."
Graham said she has "a different background and vision for our state," describing her childhood growing up "in one room in central South Carolina" before explaining her parents' personal experience with healthcare and working "long, hard hours to make ends meet."
"We didn't take vacations," she said. "If they were sick, they had to get up and go to work, because if the doors weren't open, we weren't making money."
She then added, "My mother passed away when I was 11, and my father just over a year later," before saying she has "worked hard for the people of South Carolina" and understands "the struggles facing South Carolina families because I've faced them too."
Andrews responded on social media that Graham's "family suffered and died without healthcare and apparently [she] thinks yours should too.
"Call me crazy, but as a doctor, I believe there are few responsibilities more fundamental to government than keeping its citizens healthy and safe," she said. "No family should have to suffer simply because generations before them did."
Other observers were perplexed about the message embedded in Graham's story.
“'Government-provided healthcare is a bad idea. I’d rather Americans work long, hard hours, not receive sick leave, and die young' is one hell of a message," said journalist Ahmed Baba.
A "straightforward reading" of Graham's statement, said Matthew Sitman of the podcast Know Your Enemy, would point to a proposal that "more parents of 11-year-olds die."
Graham's official website does not appear to outline any healthcare proposal. The senator said this week that voters she has met around the state are "talking about the rising cost of healthcare and affordability," but declined to name legislation or describe any proposals for tackling the issues.
The healthcare advocacy group Protect Our Care found last week that the Republican Party's $900 billion in cuts to Medicaid and its decision to slash ACA subsidies have left 8 million people across the country without health coverage so far, affecting Americans in all 50 states.
In South Carolina, Protect Our Care said, 235,000 people have lost their ACA subsidies or coverage under Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program. Premiums have doubled for more than 587,000 South Carolinians in the past year, while 14 hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes have been forced to shut down or are on the verge of closing due to the healthcare cuts.
Healthcare facilities in the state are facing a $1.5 billion loss in funding and have seen a 26.9% spike in care that they are providing without reimbursement from Medicaid or other public programs.
"South Carolinians are dropping coverage they can no longer afford, delaying care, rationing medications, and living with the constant fear that an emergency could push them deeper into debt," said Protect Our Care.
Writer and engineer Hayden Clarkin suggested voters in the state may not be convinced by a "healthcare proposal" that appeared to amount to, "If you’re sick, you have to get up and work."
A 2020 poll by Data for Progress on behalf of the advocacy group Medicare for All NOW found that 77% of Democratic voters in South Carolina supported "expanding Medicare so that it becomes the primary insurer for all Americans."
Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) noted that should Graham win a full Senate term, she will benefit from the "government-provided healthcare" she had attacked as a "bad idea."
