In Reply to: Thursday: you’re 80% done but already checked out* posted by mh on August 27, 2026 at 09:08:09
Sen. Darline Graham then went on to detail her parents’ experiences while she was growing up, including how hard they worked even after they fell ill.
“My parents worked long, hard hours to make ends meet,” Graham told the crowd. “We didn’t take vacations. 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. My mother passed away when I was 11, and my father just over a year later.”
Democrats and online commenters panned Graham’s statements and noted that they effectively highlight how important health care access is.
“She complaining about the Democrat who wants everyone to have health care... while explaining how her parents died young because they couldn’t see doctors,” Jeopardy! champion Hemant Mehta wrote on X.
“Does she realize she just made the argument for her opponent?” Democratic strategist and radio host Leslie Marshall asked in a post on X.
Andrews, a pediatrician who is the Democratic nominee for South Carolina Senate, also called out Graham’s remarks in a CNN interview on Wednesday. Andrews, who has criticized Medicaid cuts, said she supports a public option as part of her policy platform.
“So what she said there was that her health care plan is, ‘You should work hard until you die,’” Andrews said, reflecting on Graham’s speech. “...I believe that we deserve better. I believe that Darline’s parents deserved better. I believe that health care is a human right.”