Attorney General Todd Blanche addressed criticism that he is mixing official duties with political campaigning during a Justice Department event in North Charleston, South Carolina, alongside Senator Darline Graham (R-SC) on Thursday. Blanche defended his travel schedule, emphasizing that it aligns with the administration's focus on reducing crime and was not politically motivated despite the timing being close to election season. He noted that he frequently travels for similar events regardless of political considerations, highlighting the importance of addressing crime issues as a priority for South Carolina residents.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-08,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Attorney General Todd Blanche traveled to North Charleston, South Carolina, on Thursday for a roundtable event focusing on how the administration is tackling violent crime. The visit involved U.S. Attorney Bryan Stirling and Republican Senate candidate Darline Graham, who is in a competitive race against Democratic nominee Annie Andrews to replace the late Lindsey Graham permanently. Despite criticism that his trip was politically motivated due to it coinciding with a crucial election period, Blanche defended the travel by saying he makes such trips every week regardless of political timing. He emphasized that President Trump's campaign focused on making streets safer and reducing crime rates, which are key themes of the roundtable discussions. Graham is facing a tight race in South Carolina as she tries to secure her position as Lindsey Graham’s permanent replacement in the Senate.
Written for “Politician Criticized For Political U…” on 2026-10-09,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it +0.35, but 2 quote(s) could not be found in the article and the other 1 are attributed speech rather than the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 66900: no verified evidence · logged 2026-10-08
Attorney General Todd Blanche dismissed criticism that he is mixing official business with electoral politics after a Justice Department event in South Carolina with Sen. Darline Graham (R-SC).
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he → dismiss → Graham
“This is not my first trip here,” Blanche told reporters on Thursday.
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Blanche → tell → Thursday
“I missed you last time, I’m sorry.”
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I → miss → you
Blanche, who was President Donald Trump’s personal attorney before being confirmed as deputy attorney general last March and then attorney general this August after Pam Bondi was pushed out in April, added that he travels “every single week saying exactly the same thing I said today.”
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I → confirm → thing
“It has nothing to do with the fact that it’s October,” he said.
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he → have → fact
“It’s what President Trump ran on, what we’re talking about today.
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we → ’ → what
He ran on making streets safer.
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streets → run → ?
He ran on putting bad guys in jail.
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He → run → jail
He ran on making America safe again.”
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America → run → ?
Blanche was in North Charleston, South Carolina, on Thursday for a roundtable on how the administration is countering violent crime with U.S. Attorney Bryan Stirling and Graham, who is in a closer-than-expected race with Democratic Senate nominee Annie Andrews to replace her late brother, Lindsey Graham, permanently.
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who → counter → brother
In an effort to distance himself from the appearance of politicizing the office, Blanche told reporters he didn’t know why he was in Charleston “as opposed to other cities.”
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he → distance → cities
Darline Graham is 2 percentage points ahead of Andrews, according to a RealClearPolitics polling aggregation.
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Graham → accord → aggregation
Her brother won reelection in 2020 by 10 points.
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brother → win → points
“I was in San Francisco yesterday,” Blanche went on.
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Blanche → go → Francisco
“I’m traveling tomorrow.
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I → travel → ?
So this has nothing to do with the time of the year.
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this → have → year
But anytime any anybody asks me, and I was asked this question last week, if a Democrat asks me to come speak to their cops about how great it is that crime is down in their city, if it happens to be down, I will be there.”
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I → ask → city
He continued, “I don’t know when my team planned this trip, but it’s something that is very important to Sen. Graham, and it’s something that’s very important to the congressman and obviously to our U.S. attorney.
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that → continue → attorney
And so this is what the community should want, right?…
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community → want → what
You want us here, being responsive, being accountable, and you heard some tough, tough talk in there.
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you → want → talk
We had a victim’s father basically say that we failed, that we failed him.
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we → have → him
That’s not, that’s not fun.
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that → ’ → ?
I’m not here for fun, but it is something that I think that everybody in South Carolina should want from their leaders.”
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everybody → ’m → leaders
Blanche has appeared at several political events during his time as attorney general, including his address to last month’s Republican midterm convention in Dallas.
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Blanche → appear → Dallas
“To evil men and women in this country, know this: President Trump will hold you accountable,” he said.
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he → know → this
The Aporia
