The Republican Party has quickly poured $5 million into South Carolina's U.S. Senate race, where Darlene Graham, the sister of the late Lindsey Graham, is fighting to hold his seat, Axios reported. Now even a former Republican governor of the state is calling attention to some of the "abhorrent" things President Donald Trump is saying about the contest.

Darlene Graham appears to be struggling in the reliably red state after a poor debate performance. No Democrat has won a U.S. Senate race in South Carolina since 1992, and the seat is among those on the ballot this November that will determine the chamber's balance of power. Public Policy Polling showed Democrat Annie Andrews performing well over the summer, though Graham seemed to regain momentum in September.

In a recent rant on Truth Social, Trump derided Andrews, a pediatrician, as "Annie Trannie." According to Trump, the nickname stemmed from the fact that "she is in favor of Transgender for Everyone." He did not explain what that meant. He then recycled long-standing attacks he has aimed at Democrats generally: "open borders," "weak military," "take your guns away" and others.

Former Gov. David Beasley, a Republican who served from 1995 to 1999 and has long been a dedicated humanitarian, concluded that Trump's rant went too far. Trump himself appointed Beasley to lead the U.N. World Food Programme in 2017, and the organization received the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize during his tenure.

"This is abhorrent. Elections don't have to be about cruelty and lies," he wrote Monday night on X. "South Carolina deserves better. I urge voters to look at the merits of each candidate and cast their vote accordingly. We must reject politics based on division and hate. While South Carolinians can strongly disagree with one another, we can do so civilly and with honest intentions for the betterment of our communities and well being of our families."

Such civility has never been Trump's style. The president's most infamous barb came during the 2016 campaign, when he mocked Serge Kovaleski, a disabled New York Times reporter, claiming the journalist was using his disability to "grandstand." Trump later denied the incident. In 2018, Trump mocked the testimony of Christine Blasey Ford, who alleged sexual assault by Brett Kavanaugh, who denied the allegation. Before a laughing rally crowd, Trump imitated her difficulty remembering details from the assault.

Trump also implied he had been "upset" that the late senator described his sister as the finest person he knew.

"For years my dear friend Lindsey would say that, 'Darline is the finest, most reliable, and one of the smartest people I have ever known,'" Trump recalled. "He would then always add, 'Also, the most loyal!' Oft I would be upset with Lindsey for saying this, because I thought I had all of those qualities. In any event, Darline is a High Quality person, maybe the Highest, and Annie Trannie is not..."

A poll conducted at the end of September showed the candidates in a statistical tie, with about 8.5 percent of voters saying they were still undecided, WJCL News reported. That undecided bloc is larger than the gap between the candidates, leaving the race unsettled heading into Election Day in November. The New York Times' polling page for the race also tracks the contest.