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by WILL FOLKS
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This week, South Carolina lieutenant governor Pamela Evette secured the coveted endorsement of U.S. president Donald Trump in her bid to become the next chief executive of the Palmetto State. Since finally getting her hands on this long-awaited prize, though, it’s been anything but smooth sailing for the charisma-challenged Ohio native – who has been the No. 2 of status quo governor Henry McMaster for the past eight years.
Trump’s backing was supposed to be the rocket fuel that propelled the lackluster Evette to the front of a crowded GOP field – but early returns on his big reveal have been decidedly less than favorable.
For both politicians…
Perhaps South Carolina Republicans – many of whom were disappointed by Trump’s prior endorsement of embattled incumbent U.S. senator Lindsey Graham – didn’t really appreciate him foisting yet another unpopular choice on them? Or, perhaps it was the alleged quid pro quo accompanying the Evette endorsement that left a bad taste in their mouths?
Either way, the announcement was met in the Palmetto State – where Trump’s popularity is on the wane due to pervasive economic headwinds – with a mix of indifference and irritation.
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More ominously for Evette, the news simply wasn’t as relevant as her team thought it would be… which isn’t surprising considering a sizable portion of the Republican primary electorate thought she had already secured Trump’s backing months ago.
Despite cloaking herself in Trump for the past year, Evette has utterly failed to distinguish herself in a gubernatorial field that includes four other top tier options – attorney general Alan Wilson, congresswoman Nancy Mace, congressman Ralph Norman and Lowcountry multi-millionaire Rom Reddy. Her and McMaster’s recent flub of Trump’s high-profile push to redraw South Carolina’s political boundaries didn’t help things, either.
The part of Trump’s endorsement that really rubbed Palmetto State Republicans the wrong way, though, was the president’s suggestion that McMaster’s “brilliant and very competent son,” Henry D. McMaster Jr., would be “running with (Evette) as the next lieutenant governor.”
Trump referred to the addition of McMaster Jr. to Evette’s ticket as “a BIG added plus for Pam.”
Allegations of nepotism immediately swirled, with many South Carolina politicos suggesting the governor negotiated his son’s placement on the ticket as part of a broader backroom deal with the White House.
“The proverbial quiet part out loud,” we noted in our coverage.
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RELATED | DONALD TRUMP ENDORSES PAMELA EVETTE
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While Trump’s statement wasn’t news to anyone in our audience (we first reported on the speculation regarding McMaster Jr. back in January), sources familiar with the situation say it has created a definitionally untenable situation for all involved.
This untenability has been painfully evident in Evette’s refusal to address Trump’s statements regarding the governor’s son, a 38-year-old hospitality lawyer from Columbia, S.C. On Saturday (May 30, 2026), Evette was campaigning in Greenville, S.C. when a reporter with The (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier asked her about Trump’s support for McMaster Jr. – which the paper described as a “seeming provision” of his backing of Evette.
The current lieutenant governor was surprisingly non-committal regarding McMaster Jr.’s selection as her running mate.
“I think the president has amazing political insight, but I’ve been saying it for months: I’m going to win this primary, then I’m going to worry about all the other things that come after,” she said.
Wait, though… isn’t Trump’s support of Evette her only chance of becoming governor?
And didn’t Trump make it abundantly clear that was contingent on her choosing McMaster Jr. as her No. 2?
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Sources familiar with the situation say Evette’s hesitation stemmed in part from information reportedly uncovered during her campaign’s vetting of McMaster Jr. – including racist and homophobic social media posts allegedly made by the governor’s son during his time as a student at the University of South Carolina from 2006-2010.
Several of the posts were still displaying on social media as of Saturday afternoon (May 30, 2026), although one of the pages which contained an exceedingly graphic post allegedly penned by McMaster Jr. was deactivated as FITSNews began making inquiries.
Shortly thereafter, McMaster Jr.’s entire Facebook page vanished from the platform.
Prior to the deactivation of these accounts, screen caps of multiple posts allegedly made by the governor’s son were provided to FITSNews – and independently confirmed as authentic by friends of McMaster Jr. If the screen caps we were provided are indeed authentic, the graphic comments were posted online in the winter and spring of 2007 – when McMaster Jr. was 18 and 19 years old.
Sources close to McMaster Jr. told us the comments – which included references to the fellating of black males and slurs used against homosexuals – were made in jest to friends and constituted nothing more than youthful ribaldry. In another comment allegedly made by McMaster Jr, though, references were made to him “dodging” two minor in possession charges – i.e. underage drinking charges.
McMaster’s father was South Carolina’s independently elected attorney general at the time these charges were allegedly “dodged.”
FITSNews reached out to Evette’s campaign with questions regarding its vetting of McMaster Jr. and did not immediately receive a response. Should that change, we will update our coverage accordingly.
“God if they manage to screw up the Trump endorsement,” one Palmetto politico unaffiliated with any campaign told us early Sunday morning.
While we are not publishing the screen caps at this time, we are reliably informed they have been provided to multiple media outlets across the Palmetto State – as well as the campaigns of Evette’s gubernatorial rivals. Which means you’ll likely be seeing them sooner rather than later…
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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