COLUMBIA, S.C. — Former President Donald Trump will be at this weekend's Palmetto Bowl football game in Columbia, as he continues to campaign ahead of February's Republican primary in the state.
Trump's campaign team ended days of speculation Tuesday with a statement confirming his visit to the South Carolina versus Clemson football game being held at Williams-Brice Stadium Saturday night. No other details were released, other than he would be there for kickoff.
The event is part of Trump's ongoing campaign as he seeks to regain the White House. His first major step is to win his party's nomination, and one of the first major contests will be the February 24 South Carolina Republican primary.
Trump's last public event in Columbia was a speech in August at the annual Silver Elephant Dinner, an annual gathering of South Carolina Republicans. He kicked off his bid to regain the White House back in January with a stop both in Columbia at the State House and in New Hampshire.
The former president continues to enjoy broad support in the state among members of his party. He has the support of a slew of top Republicans in the state, including Reps. Joe Wilson and Russell Fry, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and Governor Henry McMaster, who as lieutenant governor was the first statewide-elected official in the country to support his 2016 campaign.
McMaster and Evette will be alongside Trump for the visit.
“Governor McMaster and Lieutenant Governor Evette look forward to joining President Trump this Saturday to show him first-hand the passion and tradition that makes this rivalry the greatest in college football," McMaster spokesman Brandon Charochak said in a statement after the announcement was made official.
U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina is also expected to be part of the entourage with Trump at the game.
While polls differ slightly on the percentages, Trump is well ahead of his other GOP rivals in South Carolina, which mirrors national surveys. As for who's second, some surveys have shown former South Carolina Governor and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley as his chief rival in this state, although she trails by a substantial margin.
The Haley campaign didn’t immediately respond to a message by the Associated Press on whether she would also attend the game. An alumna and member of Clemson’s Board of Trustees, Haley often talks on the campaign trail about her friendship with Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney and her encouraging game-day text exchanges with him.
Trump easily won the state in the 2016 and 2020 president elections, with him beating President Joe Biden 55-43 percent in the last campaign.
On Monday, News19 asked the South Carolina Highway Patrol about any impact to traffic, which is usually hectic on gamedays. At the time they couldn't confirm they were preparing for a Trump visit, but said they didn't see any potential changes.
“It really shouldn’t impact that at all,” Lance Corporal William Bennett with the South Carolina Highway Patrol (SCHP) says. “It’s going to be the same it is for any home game.”
As for the game itself, USC and Clemson both come into the contest riding a win streak. South Carolina (5-6) is coming off a win versus Kentucky and is hoping to secure their sixth victory of the season to become bowl eligible. Clemson (7-4) is bowl eligible but is hoping to win to improve which bowl they go to.
Gametime is set for 7:30 p.m. at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
Clemson leads the series 72-43-4 all time, but USC won last year's contest 31-30 in an upset up in Tigertown. That ended a seven-game losing streak by the Gamecocks that doesn't include 2020, when the teams didn't play due to the COVID pandemic.