President Donald Trump tried out a new campaign message on Friday, telling voters in South Carolina to “pretend” he was on the ballot and turn out to back his hand-picked candidate, Sen. Darline Graham, in a contentious Republican primary.

“They say that Trump does great when he’s on the ballot, but when he’s not on the ballot, his people don’t come and they don’t vote for senators, congressmen,” Trump said at a rally Friday in Myrtle Beach. “So what I really want you to do is pretend, please, that I’m on the ballot. Just come and vote.”

Trump’s plea and Graham’s stumble in a debate earlier this week are setting up a GOP primary as a surprising test of the president’s influence with Republican voters in a deeply conservative state.

Trump is seeking to boost Republican enthusiasm ahead of the November midterm elections as the GOP races to try to keep hold of the House and Senate while he’s not on the ballot.

But his message could work for Democrats as well, who have sought to tie Republicans in swing states to a president whose polling numbers have declined in the face of economic headwinds like higher gas prices brought on by the war in Iran.

Graham, the sister of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, is in a runoff with Rep. Ralph Norman, with the winner favored to win a general election against Democratic candidate Annie Andrews.

Graham, 62, never ran for or held elected office before being appointed to fill the remainder of her brother’s term in the Senate. But despite the support of the president, she failed to win the special primary outright earlier this month. Her woes were compounded after a bruising debate performance this week in which she stumbled on a question about Taiwan and told voters she was “not that informed on national security.”

Asked about her debate performance, Trump defended Graham earlier Friday, saying “she’s very smart, and she was being honest,” and would deliver on issues important to him.

“I mean, she’s into the price of groceries, the price of food, the price of beef, and it’s not, it hasn’t been her thing, but she’s surrounded by very good people, and she said that she’s totally for the military,” Trump told reporters. “She’s going to do what the military wants, and really, what the president wants. She understands that national security is my thing.”

Graham has cast herself as someone who is “not a polished politician,” seeking to define herself as a conservative outsider. She’s also said she would support ending the filibuster, breaking with her brother. Trump has pressed Republican senators to change their chamber’s rules to approve a voter identification bill that GOP leaders say lacks the votes for passage.

Norman, Graham’s opponent, boasts one of the most conservative voting records in Congress. Yet his relationship with Trump is complicated. Norman, 73, was a loyal supporter during Trump’s first term, but endorsed former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in the 2024 Republican presidential primary. He later backed Trump after she dropped out.

Trump has managed to take down Republican lawmakers who have bucked him in primary elections this year, but some prominent GOP candidates he’s backed have fallen short in recent weeks, raising questions about his sway at a politically challenging time.

Trump and Republicans face a difficult path to retaining control of Congress in November’s election with polls showing voters have soured on the president’s handling of the economy — the dominant issue — and the war in Iran.

That makes motivating core supporters even more essential in order to offset Democratic voters energized to elect candidates who’ll back a stronger check against his agenda.

“I am on the ballot,” Trump said as he ended Friday’s rally. “We’re all on the ballot. Our country is on the ballot.”

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