Former Rep. Trey Gowdy said Tuesday if the Democrats think they can flip his home state of South Carolina in 2020, they are mistaken.
“Not the one I live in, unless there are two South Carolinas, no,” Gowdy said when asked if the state was “in play” during an appearance on “Fox & Friends.” “This is Tim Scott, Lindsey Graham country. This is not Kamala Harris, AOC territory.”
He was referring to South Carolina Sens. Tim Scott and Lindsey Graham, both Republicans, and California Sen. Kamala Harris and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who are both powerhouses in the Democratic Party at the moment. Harris is also a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate.
Gowdy, who retired from Congress earlier this month and rejoined his old law firm in South Carolina, made the comments as national Democrats were visiting the state and pouring money and strategy resources into it in the run-up to the 2020 election.
Rep. Trey Gowdy: South Carolina is “not Kamala Harris, AOC territory.” pic.twitter.com/EOZ1ofdsGj
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) January 29, 2019
On the Republican side, the South Carolina Republican Party told the Washington Examiner last month it could cancel its marquee presidential nominating contest in 2020.
“We have complete autonomy and flexibility in either direction,” Drew McKissick, the party’s chairman said. “Considering the fact that the entire party supports the president, we’ll end up doing what’s in the president’s best interest.”
President Trump won South Carolina by 9 points in 2016. Republicans held on to all seven statewide offices during the 2018 midterm elections.
The South Carolina primary is tentatively set for Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020.
