Republican Strategist on CNN Cracks Up Laughing Over Darline Graham’s ‘I’m Not Informed’ Debate Gaffe: ‘Terrible Mistake’

CNN contributor and Republican strategist Shermichael Singleton couldn’t help but laugh on air over Sen. Darline Graham’s (D-SC) gaffe during a debate where she admitted she’s “not that informed on national security.”

Singleton joined CNN’s Pamela Brown on The Situation Room on Wednesday to discuss various primaries and upcoming races and he broke down the advice he would have given Graham going into her debate.

Brown rolled a clip of Graham, who was appointed to her seat after her brother Lindsey Graham’s shocking July 11 death, from the debate being asked about Taiwan and the South China Sea “national security issues.”

Graham said:

I’m just gonna be honest here. I’m not, on national security– I’m not that informed on national security, so– but I do support the military. My brother was in the Air Force for 33 years, so I will do everything I can to support the military. My dad was in the Army. I’m not a polished politician up here. National security is not my thing, not my area of expertise, but I support the military.

Brown asked whether the moment could be spun into a “refreshingly honest moment” or whether it was just a plain old gaffe.

Singleton argued Graham’s debate answer on national security came at the wrong time, considering how many international conflicts are going on:

Sometimes it can be refreshing.

In this particular case, we have conflicts with Iran, Russia, Ukraine is ongoing, China continues to expand in the south China sea, they’re spending significant amounts of dollars to modernize their military, their Navy, their hyper-missile capabilities, other AI technology capabilities — you want members of Congress to be aware of the ongoing threats to our country.

The international community is becoming more of a unpredictable and threatening environment than it was just 10, 15 years ago.

Graham should have pivoted the question to affordability and inflation, Singleton added.

“But instead we got what we saw, which I thought was a terrible mistake,” he said, breaking out laughing.

Brown asked whether pivoting to increased costs fueled by the Iran war could have been seen as a knock against President Donald Trump, who is supporting Graham in her race over Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC).

Singleton argued all politics is “local” and pivoting to affordability would have done her better than providing clips to Norman’s campaign to exploit.

The Republican strategist compared the Graham situation to former Vice President Kamala Harris replacing former President Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic Party’s 2024 ticket.

Voters, he argued, don’t want “coordinated” candidates.

“As you recall, we were very critical of Democrats, alleging that they coordinated former Vice President Kamala Harris. Here we are with someone who has never run for political office before,” Singleton said.

“I think she’s a very fine woman. I’m sorry for what happened to Senator Graham, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that someone should be elevated to represent an entire state.”

Watch above via CNN.

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