Trump renews Fry backing with false Social Security tax claim

Donald Trump has renewed his backing for Russell Fry’s re-election with a false claim about the tax package the South Carolina congressman supported: it did not abolish federal income tax on Social Security benefits. The law instead offers a temporary, income-limited deduction for older taxpayers. [1] [7] [8]

The Truth Social post, dated 17 October 2026 and preserved by Trump’s Truth, gives Fry his “Complete and Total Endorsement” for South Carolina’s 7th congressional district. The archive’s transcript of the attached video records Trump praising Fry’s tax vote as delivering “no tax on social security for our great seniors”. [1]

Fry, a Republican, faces Democratic challenger John Vincent in the 3 November House election. He has made continued cooperation with Trump a campaign theme, according to WMBF News. The president’s appeal arrived two days before South Carolina’s early voting period, which runs from 19 to 31 October, excluding Sunday 25 October. [10] [5]

The endorsement was already public by 15 October 2025, when Fry’s campaign circulated Trump’s statement of support for his re-election. An archived Trump post dated 3 November 2025 repeated it. The latest message reaffirms that backing; Trump does not claim it is his first endorsement. [3] [2]

Trump did back Darline Graham rather than Fry in August’s separate Republican Senate primary. Fry finished third and subsequently endorsed Graham, AP reported. That contest was distinct from the House re-election Trump had already supported. [11]

The new message also includes a pledge to get Interstate 73 built, praising Fry’s advocacy for federal funding. The South Carolina Department of Transportation’s grant tracker lists an application for the I-73 Resiliency Project under the PROTECT Resilience programme as pending. That entry covers one grant programme, rather than the road’s overall financing.