Columbia, South Carolina - Senator Tim Scott defended fellow South Carolina Republican Darline Graham's acknowledgment of her lack of national security credentials days after her disastrous debate performance.

Scott used an appearance on NBC's Meet the Press to defend Graham, who replaced her brother after his death early in July.

During a trainwreck debate performance last week, Graham responded to a question about Taiwan by simply responding: "I'm just gonna be honest here, I'm not on national that, I'm not that informed on national security."

"I will do everything I can to support the military. My dad was in the army, I'm not a polished politician up here, national security is not my thing, not my area of expertise, but I do support the military."

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Her response left her with egg on her face when her opponent, Representative Ralph Norman, responded with a succinct breakdown of US policy on Taiwan.

When faced with a clip of Graham's gaffe on Sunday, Scott immediately began praising her as a sturdy candidate who'll do well in office, claiming: "Well, there's no doubt… Darline Graham is the real deal."

"The answer is yes," Scott responded when asked whether Graham has a reasonable and acceptable understanding and knowledge of national security.

"The question we're asking ourselves today is whether or not she is prepared to serve in the United States Senate and represent the people of South Carolina on the issues that are germane to the moment," Scott answered.

"What are the issues of the moment, and is she prepared to hit those issues? She hits those issues spot-on, she hits the target bullseye, how does she do so? Because she has been listening to people across our state for more than 30 years."

Graham is up against Norman in a Republican special primary runoff for Senate on Tuesday, August 25. The winner will be South Carolina's GOP nominee in the general election on November 3.