Voters call Trump's backing both Pamela Evette, Alan Wilson 'strange'

Near the entrance to the sanctuary at Faith Fellowship Baptist Church in Pendleton, a retractable stand-up banner displayed a photograph of President Donald Trump with South Carolina Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette -- both giving a thumbs-up sign -- with wording aimed at Republican voters in the June 23 gubernatorial primary runoff:

"President Trump endorsed Pamela Evette to keep South Carolina great."

Evette, who received the coveted Trump endorsement on May 29 while in a tight race against four other candidates, was at the church to take part in a forum with her runoff opponent, Attorney General Alan Wilson.

Less than two hours before the forum's 7 p.m. start, word came that Trump had made the unusual move to endorse Wilson, too.

In a Truth Social post, Trump praised both Evette and Wilson, saying, "There are two Highly Respected Candidates running to be your next Governor in the June 23rd Republican Runoff Election ... Both have had amazing careers, and have been with me from the beginning."

He went on, "I can't hurt one of them by only Endorsing the other, so, therefore, I am going to Endorse, for Governor of South Carolina, both Pam Evette and Alan Wilson!"

During the forum, Wilson said he learned about Trump's endorsement "on the way here."

His campaign quickly released a statement claiming that Trump was "throwing his total and complete support behind" Wilson -- even though Trump's statement also promoted Evette.

Is Trump trying to 'win either way'

Attendees at the forum seemed unsure what to make of Trump's co-endorsement.

"It's kind of strange," said Regina Forrest, a Wilson supporter.

"It's crazy. I don't get it," said Mark Bataska, who backs Evette.

"What's his motivation? To win either way?"

The statement from Wilson's campaign said Trump's announcement came as "momentum behind Wilson's campaign has continued to grow."

Wilson recently garnered endorsements from several of his and Evette's former primary opponents—U.S. Reps. Nancy Mace (SC-District 1) and Ralph Norman (SC-District 5), as well as State Sen. Josh Kimbrell. He has also been endorsed by Sen. Tim Scott. He also received an endorsement from Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

"Obviously, we have a very successful campaign going on right now. I think the president respects people who are winners," Wilson told reporters before the forum.

"I think he's recognizing both my history of supporting him as well as the type of campaign we're running here in South Carolina."

Meanwhile, Evette said she received a message from Trump urging her to "fight, win."

"That's exactly what I'm going to do," she said.

Evette pledged continued loyalty to Trump even as he undercut one of her key campaign messages. She said she intends to win the primary "for him."

Evette was the lead vote-getter in the June 9 primary round, and "we're going to win it for him" in the runoff, she said.

Forum at Pendleton church, a display of civility, emphasis on cultural issues

Earlier in the week, Wilson and Evette met for a contentious debate in Conway.

There was little rancor at Faith Fellowship Baptist Church on June 19.

Each candidate was given several minutes to make opening remarks, followed by a question-and-answer session with moderator Joey Hudson, an Upstate-based podcast host.

They did not appear together in front of the audience, which filled about a quarter of the sanctuary.

There was no whooping and hollering from supporters, unlike earlier debate appearances, though Wilson received a partial standing ovation at the end of his comments.

On several issues, Evette and Wilson overlapped. Both want to see the state income tax eliminated, and they stressed that the state government should embrace technology upgrades to run more efficiently and save taxpayer money.

Evette devoted much of her opening remarks to one of her main campaign themes -- her contention that colleges and universities attempt to indoctrinate students with liberal ideology.

Evette was invited in December to give the commencement speech at South Carolina State University.

Following student opposition, SC State changed course.

She said she had planned to talk about her grandparents' story as immigrants, her success as a businesswoman, and "the American dream," but students rallied against her conservative, pro-Trump politics.

"I started to really think, 'What are we doing in our state if conservative speech can’t be heard on college campuses?'"

Evette told forum attendees that if she becomes governor, any institution of higher education "that tries to silence conservative speech" will lose state funding.

Wilson discussed his efforts as attorney general to lock up child predators and drug traffickers and boasted that prosecutions by his office have resulted in about $2 billion being returned to taxpayers.

He said he's also fought for Trump's agenda and for conservative positions on such issues as vaccine mandates, abortion, and surgeries for transgender children.

Evette supporter: '(Trump) chose her first'

Wilson said he was grateful for the endorsement from Trump.

But, he told the audience, "You're the endorsement I want."

Kevin Kennedy drove to Pendleton from Spartanburg to show his support for Evette. As the candidates were greeting voters a few minutes before the forum began, he said he'd just heard the news about Trump's double endorsement.

He said he hoped the earlier endorsement of Evette would outrank Trump's late message of support for Wilson.

"We got the first (endorsement)," Kennedy said. "He chose her first."