NEWBERRY — Gov. Henry McMaster and his Republican runoff opponent John Warren went after each other at Wednesday's debate on the importance of government experience, who's more like President Donald Trump and how to get things done in Columbia.
Warren, a Marine veteran, continued to tout his military and business experiences as proof of his leadership abilities, while McMaster — after thanking Warren for his service — countered that state government is not the military.
The governor's office is "no place for on-the-job training," McMaster said during the debate at the Newberry Opera House co-hosted by The Post and Courier and S.C. Educational Television.
Warren, a political novice who's built a successful niche loan business, said it's ironic that the thing McMaster touts "more than anything" as the reason voters should choose him is Trump's endorsement, when Trump became president as an outsider like himself. McMaster, on the other hand, has been entrenched in state politics for decades.
"We need someone who’s an outsider to go to Columbia and drain the swamp," Warren said.
He repeatedly referred to Senate President Pro Tem Hugh Leatherman as among the "rotten apples" he can't and won't work with but instead will work to oust.
"You're a good man but you are not Donald Trump," McMaster said to loud applause. The difference, he said, is that Trump had been "immersed in politics" for decades and was a world figure before he launched his own campaign. "Trump is a friend of mine."
The debate followed news that Trump and Vice President Mike Pence would campaign with McMaster in the days leading to Tuesday's runoff. McMaster, the nation's first statewide officer to endorse Trump's presidential bid, ascended to the governor's office last year when Nikki Haley became United Nations ambassador.
While both praised Trump profusely, Warren did fault the president on tariffs, saying increased tariffs on steel and aluminum are hurting South Carolina jobs.
McMaster declined to disagree with Trump on anything, even adding the tariff issue is "still a work in progress."
However, he earlier pointed out that he asked Trump not to allow offshore drilling off South Carolina's shores after the president opened that possibility. So far, only Florida has been exempted.
Warren said he too opposes offshore drilling. But it was McMaster who got the laughs for his answer on whether he believes in global warming and, if so, what's causing it.
"It is getting warmer. Whether that fits your definition or not, I don't know," McMaster said, acknowledging Charleston's city streets already flood. "I know water's coming up in Charleston. ... There must be something melting somewhere I guess. It's a real threat to us. We've got to be very careful with the coast and got to protect our economic engine."
He rattled off so many reasons for why he opposes offshore drilling that he had to be cut off for going past his time, wrapping it up with "We ought not drill out there."
Warren said that while he doesn't believe predictions in rising sea levels — saying former Vice President Al Gore was wrong — he supports incentivizing solar energy and other energy sources.
As for how to get things done, McMaster said it's a mistake to think the Legislature, which holds most of the power in South Carolina, can be bullied into action.
"To have a chief executive who does not know how (the Legislature) functions is a dangerous thing to do," he said.
Leatherman, arguably the state's most powerful politician, became a central figure in the debate, though he's not on any ballot this year. Warren criticized McMaster for backing the Florence Republican in his re-election bid two years ago and for working with him at all.
"I'm going to try to take him out in two years," Warren said. "You cannot work with Hugh Leatherman."
He said he'll "systematically target" the senators he disagrees with by finding, raising money and campaigning for their challengers. It's a strategy Govs. Mark Sanford and Nikki Haley tried with limited success, certainly not against Leatherman.
McMaster responded that he's agreed with Leatherman on some things and opposed him on others, like with any legislator.
"Politics is an art of addition, not subtraction," he said.