By Seanna Adcox, Abraham Kenmore and Skylar Laird
SCDailyGazette.com
COLUMBIA — Former President Donald Trump turned the field of Williams-Brice Stadium into a giant stage as he briefly united Tigers and Gamecocks who cheered his entrance during South Carolina’s biggest rivalry game of the year.
The crowd erupted as Trump walked onto the field Saturday, Nov. 25 at the start of halftime with Gov. Henry McMaster and waved to a stadium sold out for the Palmetto Bowl.
Shouts of praise and chants of “U-S-A!” drowned out a scattering of boos, as the former president displayed his dominance over the 2024 GOP presidential field without publicly saying a word. The spectacle lasted less than two minutes. Trump and McMaster walked off the field as the announcer introduced the Clemson marching band.
Trump, who attended as a guest of the governor, left the stadium immediately after walking off the field.
He arrived half an hour before the 7:30 p.m. kickoff, also to chants of “U-S-A” from supporters who packed the concourse. His entourage included McMaster, Lt. Gov. Pam Evette, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, U.S. Rep. Russell Fry, and state Treasurer Curtis Loftis. They watched the first half from a suite of supporters that included the leader of the South Carolina House, Speaker Murrell Smith of Sumter.
It was a demonstration of the support Trump’s lined up ahead of South Carolina’s crucial first-in-the-South presidential primary, which he’s expected to easily win. The Feb. 24 contest is fourth in the voting lineup following Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.
In a release announcing that Trump would attend the game, his campaign pointed to the latest Winthrop Poll showing him 35 points ahead of South Carolina’s former governor, Nikki Haley, among Republican voters.
Ahead of the game, Trump’s campaign announced more endorsements from South Carolina GOP legislators. They included a state senator and five state House members who previously endorsed U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, who unexpectedly dropped out of the presidential primary earlier this month.
Scott’s departure leaves one South Carolinian still in the race. Haley has risen in the polls following her performances on the debate stage and will likely pick up some of Scott’s support. But even on her home turf, she remains a distant second. She’s dismissed the polls, pointing to her 2010 come-from-behind wins to become governor.
Haley, a Clemson graduate and trustee, did not attend the game.
Outside the stadium, supporters cheered the motorcade with flags and signs.
“I think it’s great that (Trump) is coming to our humble state here,” said Jessica Prestia of Columbia, wearing a Trump hat and a Gamecocks jersey. “We’re the best state in the South, and he’s the best president we’ve ever had.”
Clemson won the contest 16-7, but Prestia called Trump’s attendance a win.
Tara and Cymone Littlejohn, a mother-daughter duo supporting different teams, said they hope Trump picks Haley as a running mate.
Haley has repeatedly rejected the idea, should the offer come.
“I don’t play for second,” Haley has told multiple media outlets and posted on social media.
But she similarly dismissed suggestions in 2016 that she would leave the Governor’s Mansion mid-term, until she accepted Trump’s appointment as his first United Nations ambassador. Her move put then-Lt. Gov. McMaster, one of Trump’s earliest supporters, into the Governor’s Mansion.
“She is a strong contender, right?” said Tara Littlejohn, a USC graduate. “Why wouldn’t he pick a strong female?”
Most of the political signs, flags and shirts on display outside the stadium supported Trump, but not everyone was a fan. In videos posted on social media, loud boos could be heard.
“I think (his visit) is indulgent and messing up traffic on one of the biggest games of the year,” said Christie Johnson, a Gamecocks season ticket holder who said she will support whoever is not Trump in the general election. “We shouldn’t have criminals in our stadium.”
She made the comments ahead of Trump’s arrival, which actually affected traffic far less than speculated.
Officers cleared traffic on Bluff Road, adjacent to the stadium, just before 7 p.m. to allow Trump’s motorcade through. Hundreds of pedestrians had to wait to cross. They cheered as officers reopened vehicle and foot traffic a few minutes later.
It was hours before the game and after Trump’s departure, starting in the third quarter, that saw the bumper-to-bumper traffic normal for the event that attracts roughly 80,000 fans.
Eight electronic billboards around Columbia sarcastically welcomed the former president.
“You lost. You’re guilty. Welcome to Columbia, Donald,” they read.
South Carolina Democratic Party spokeswoman Alyssa Bradley called Trump’s appearance a photo op that “reeks of desperation.”
“For a candidate who keeps proclaiming the primary over, Donald Trump keeps campaigning like he might have something to lose,” she said in a statement before the game. “Here’s to hoping no one on the field fumbles as badly as Donald Trump is fumbling his campaign here in South Carolina.”
South Carolina has consistently backed Trump throughout his campaigns.
In 2016, Trump won South Carolina’s GOP primary with a 10-point lead over second- and third-place finishers Sens. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz.
Trump won the state that November with 55% of the vote over Democrat Hillary Clinton. He also won 55% in South Carolina over President Joe Biden in 2020. Broken down by county, Trump won 31 of South Carolina’s 46 counties in 2016 and increased that to 33 in 2020.
But his biggest loss in South Carolina came from Richland County, a Democratic stronghold in the red state. In the county that’s home to the state capital and the Gamecocks, Biden took 68% of the vote.
Seanna Adcox is a South Carolina native with three decades of reporting experience. She joined States Newsroom in September 2023 after covering the S.C. Legislature and state politics for 18 years. Her previous employers include The Post and Courier and The Associated Press.
Abraham Kenmore is a reporter covering elections, health care and more. He joins the SC Daily Gazette from The Augusta Chronicle, where he reported on Georgia legislators, military and housing issues.
Skylar Laird covers the South Carolina Legislature and criminal justice issues. Originally from Missouri, she previously worked for The Post and Courier’s Columbia bureau.
