Jaime Harrison, the former South Carolina Democratic Party Chairman who is challenging incumbent Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), brought his own plexiglass barrier to Saturday’s debate to separate him from his Republican opponent.

Graham found himself on the growing list of government officials exposed to the coronavirus through his interactions with Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), who serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee with Graham and recently tested positive for Covid-19. Both Lee and Graham were in close proximity with each other as Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett attended meetings and events on Capitol Hill this past week.

Graham tweeted on Friday that he had been tested and was negative, and felt “fine.” The Harrison campaign has nonetheless criticized him for refusing to quarantine. Studies have shown it can take some time between exposure to Covid-19 and a test result coming back positive.

Harrison addressed his plexiglass in response to a question from the debate moderator about the politicization of the pandemic response. Graham noted that people had not blamed former President Woodrow Wilson for contracting the 1918 flu, and shouldn’t blame President Donald Trump either for contracting the coronavirus.

“No, we’re not going to blame the president,” said Harrison when it was his turn to respond. “We shouldn’t blame the president for the inception of this disease. We shouldn’t blame anybody for the inception of this disease, but where blame should come is how we handle this disease, whether or not we take it seriously.”

“You know, tonight, I am taking it seriously,” continued Harrison. “That’s why I put this plexiglass up.”

Jaime Harrison: “Where blame should come is how we handled this disease — whether or not we take it seriously.” pic.twitter.com/fGilEdWhxT

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 4, 2020

After a single term in the South Carolina House of Representatives, Graham was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994 and then the U.S. Senate in 2002. This is Harrison’s first run for elected office, although he is no stranger to the political scene, having chaired the state’s Democratic Party and then serving as the assistant chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

Polls have shown the race to be a virtual tie for several months, and Graham has made recent appearances on Fox News to beg for supporters to send him campaign contributions.

from Mediaite https://ift.tt/2GxnICH