By Seanna Adcox
scdailygazette.com
COLUMBIA — Former President Donald Trump will attend this Saturday’s football game between in-state arch-rivals Clemson and South Carolina, his campaign confirmed Tuesday.
The former president’s visit to Williams-Brice Stadium, as a guest of Gov. Henry McMaster, ratchets up what’s already one of the state’s biggest and most-anticipated events of the year.
McMaster, one of Trump’s earliest supporters, will be by his side, along with U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham and Lt. Gov. Pam Evette. The Republican governor had given Trump an open invitation to visit anytime. He chose the most-watched football game of the season.
McMaster, a University of South Carolina graduate, and Evette “will show him first-hand the passion and tradition that makes this rivalry the greatest in college football,” said McMaster’s spokesman, Brandon Charochak.
Speculation about Trump’s visit to the Palmetto Bowl has been circulating and growing for over a week.
With most South Carolinians a fan of either the Gamecocks (5-6) or Tigers (7-4) — whether they attended either college or not — Trump is not picking sides, according to sources close to the campaign, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The game starts at 7:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN.
Details about when Trump will arrive and where he’ll be have not been released for security reasons. His campaign’s public schedule gives only the kickoff time. Sources say his visit will not worsen traffic, though it’s uncertain how that’s possible.
Williams-Brice Stadium and the surrounding parking lots were already sure to be packed. Capacity of the stadium is about 78,000, but the total number of people tailgating without a ticket will likely boost that number much higher.
It’s not Trump’s first college football rivalry game this season in an early-voting state. His trip in September to the Iowa-Iowa State game in Ames included a stop by a fraternity house.
It is Trump’s fifth visit to South Carolina since launching his 2024 campaign. In January, his supporters packed the Statehouse as he announced his leadership team. He is expected to easily win South Carolina’s crucial first-in-the South presidential primary Feb. 24.
The visit comes about two weeks after U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina unexpectedly ended his presidential bid.
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, whose move as Trump’s United Nations ambassador made McMaster governor, has been rising in popularity among likely voters. But even on her home turf, she remains a distant second to the former president. The latest Winthrop Poll shows her 30 percentage points behind among those who self-identified as Republicans or Republican-leaning independents. Voters do not register by party in South Carolina.
Trump’s campaign pointed to the poll’s even wider, 35-point spread among only those who called themselves Republicans: Trump took 52% to Haley’s 17%, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in third place with 12%.
Haley, a Clemson graduate, was named to her alma mater’s governing board in 2021. Her campaign has not yet responded to questions on whether she’s attending the Palmetto Bowl.
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. Haley endorsed and campaigned with Rubio ahead of that contest, then backed Cruz when Rubio dropped out.
Trump won the state that November with 55 percent of the vote over Democrat Hillary Clinton. He also won 55 percent in South Carolina over President Joe Biden in 2020.
S.C. Daily Gazette reporter Abraham Kenmore contributed to this report.
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.
