Pam Evette’s Platform Is Trumpism: South Carolina’s Future Is on the Line
- CUBNSC
- Jul 24
- 4 min read
By Javar Juarez | Columbia Urban Broadcast Network (CUBNSC)
South Carolina Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette has officially entered the race for governor, launching her campaign with a flurry of social media posts that align her unequivocally with the policies and persona of President Donald Trump. In doing so, Evette has not only announced her candidacy but also defined her platform in stark, ideological terms—signaling a continued shift in South Carolina’s executive leadership toward national right-wing populism.
“I’ve fully supported every one of President Trump’s campaigns,” Evette posted. “I’ve raised millions of dollars, I’ve traveled the country as a surrogate, I’ve endorsed him at every opportunity, and I have never wavered in my support for the America First movement. Not for one single day.”
Evette’s remarks underscore a broader political reality: the Republican Party in South Carolina remains closely tethered to Trumpism, even as the president has 34 felony convictions and multiple civil court judgments, including one for sexual abuse. Her embrace of Trump—without qualification or nuance—places her at the center of a volatile national movement that has challenged democratic institutions, marginalized minority communities, and escalated partisan division across the country.
Pam Evette: Healthcare in the Crosshairs
Evette has voiced support for eliminating the state income tax and reducing government regulation—measures that, while popular among libertarian-leaning conservatives, pose serious threats to South Carolina’s already strained public services. This includes healthcare, where the consequences of budget-slashing could be profound.
According to the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, over 50% of all births in the state are covered by Medicaid. Nationally, that figure stands at approximately 42%, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. South Carolina’s reliance on public health insurance for maternal care is among the highest in the country—a reflection of deep rural poverty and a high rate of uninsured residents.
Yet Evette has remained steadfast in supporting the Trump agenda, which includes proposals to dramatically reduce Medicaid funding, repeal the Affordable Care Act, and impose work requirements that would cut off coverage for tens of thousands of South Carolinians.
This contradiction is particularly glaring in a state that has passed some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country. While the state government has moved aggressively to limit reproductive choice, it has not proportionally invested in maternal health infrastructure or postnatal care—leaving many low-income families in medical and financial precarity.
“I will ensure full cooperation with President Trump’s immigration enforcement,” Evette wrote. “And make sure that not one square inch of South Carolina becomes a sanctuary for illegals.”
Such rhetoric, framed around national security, often overshadows the pressing local reality: over 250,000 South Carolinians rely on the ACA marketplace for their health insurance. According to a recent analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, repealing ACA subsidies or gutting Medicaid would disproportionately affect working-class white voters in rural counties—many of whom form the backbone of the state’s Republican base.
In interviews conducted with voters in Lexington, Orangeburg, and Florence counties, several Republican-leaning residents expressed concern about losing their healthcare coverage under policies advanced by the Evette-McMaster administration.
“I voted Republican for years, but we’re on Medicaid,” said one warehouse worker from Lexington County. “If they cut that off, we’re stuck. I don’t think they care anymore. Not about people like us.”
The Authoritarian Undertone
Evette’s campaign rollout included a proposal to create a “Department of Government Efficiency,” which she said would eliminate ten regulations for every new one proposed. While framed as a cost-saving measure, the proposal echoes a model introduced by Trump in 2017, which was widely criticized by policy experts for its lack of transparency and potential to erode safeguards in public health, labor, and environmental law.
“We’ll sunset useless and outdated regulations that give too much power to bureaucrats,” Evette wrote.
But who decides what’s “useless”? In the past, similar policies have been used to dismantle worker protections, slow environmental enforcement, and shift power away from the public toward private corporations. In a state that ranks 44th nationally in overall healthcare performance and 42nd in public education investment (according to the Commonwealth Fund and Education Week, respectively), reducing regulatory oversight may come at a steep cost to vulnerable communities.
Moreover, Evette’s pledge to mirror Trump’s enforcement priorities—especially on immigration—comes at a time when South Carolina’s immigrant labor force is essential to the state’s agricultural, hospitality, and construction sectors. The Pew Research Center estimates that more than 65,000 undocumented immigrants reside in South Carolina, many of whom contribute to the economy through essential, often low-paid labor.
Race, Rhetoric, and the McMaster Legacy
Evette’s campaign cannot be divorced from her long-standing alliance with Governor Henry McMaster, whose administration has also attracted criticism for racially insensitive remarks and exclusionary policies.
“I look forward to the day when Democrats are so rare we have to hunt them with dogs,” McMaster once said—a quote widely condemned by civil rights groups and seen as reflective of South Carolina’s enduring legacy of political and racial polarization.
Under McMaster and Evette, South Carolina has passed laws limiting how race and gender can be discussed in classrooms, fought against the expansion of diversity and equity programs in state agencies, and refused to expand Medicaid despite overwhelming public health needs.
Organizations including the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, ACLU of South Carolina, and SisterSong have issued legal challenges or public statements opposing policies originating from the McMaster-Evette administration. These include laws targeting protestors, rolling back voting rights, and imposing criminal penalties on healthcare providers.
Evette has not publicly distanced herself from any of these actions. Instead, she has amplified the message.
Epilogue
Pamela Evette’s announcement is more than a bid for higher office—it is a declaration that Trumpism is alive and well in South Carolina politics. Her platform, rooted in deregulation, cultural grievance, and unwavering loyalty to a president now convicted on 34 felony counts, signals a continued departure from inclusive, transparent governance.
As South Carolina faces some of the most pressing challenges in healthcare, education, and economic disparity, voters must weigh whether a Trump-style agenda will move the state forward—or pull it further into division and dysfunction.
Her words speak for themselves. The record is clear. The stakes, this time, are extraordinary.
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