South Carolina: Redder than Red for Now

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2024

Publication Title

2020 Presidential Election in the South

Abstract

In January 2016, then Lieutenant Governor Henry McMaster became the first major political figure in South Carolina to endorse Donald Trump for president. At a rally in Gilbert, South Carolina, McMaster announced his support for Trump by stating, “You know, we’ve got a saying in the South that says it’s not the dog in the fight that’s important, it’s the fight in the dog that’s important. Well, this dog’s got plenty of fight—and it’s gonna take some fighting” (Del Real 2016, para. 3). Much to the surprise of the state’s Republican establishment, McMaster’s support, and his unquestioned conservative pedigree, helped convince the state’s Republican voters to cast their ballots for the New York billionaire in February 2016. Even though Trump’s statewide victory was only 32.5 percent, he won forty-four of forty-six counties and all of the Republican convention delegates from the state.

First Page

129

Last Page

151

DOI

10.5040/9781978726819_8

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