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Senator Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican whose embrace of President Trump threatens to sweep him from what was once a safe conservative seat, declared that Black people “can go anywhere in this state” as long as they are “conservative, not liberal,” during a candidate’s forum on Friday night.

The “go anywhere” remark came after Mr. Graham touted his friendship with the state’s other Republican senator, Tim Scott, who is Black — and after Mr. Graham said that a candidate of any color could succeed in South Carolina, provided the person shared the state’s “values.”

Friday’s event was supposed to be the second shared-stage debate, a much-anticipated showdown between Mr. Graham, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, and his strong, well-funded Democratic challenger Jaime Harrison, a state Democratic Party official, who is Black.

Instead, that format was scrapped at the last minute on Friday after Mr. Graham refused a request by his Democratic challenger to take a coronavirus test before their joint appearance, and Mr. Harrison refused to share the same space with him.

Instead of a debate on Friday, Mr. Graham and Mr. Harrison, who is tied or slightly trailing his opponent in recent polls, answered questions from a panel of moderators in back-to-back 30-minute sessions in Spartanburg that largely focused on the coronavirus pandemic and racial issues.

When the topic turned to the issue of police brutality, Mr. Graham said he backed some police reforms, opined that the officers who killed George Floyd in Minneapolis “should pay a price,” then claimed that the demonstrations that followed Mr. Floyd’s killing constituted “a war” on police.

Mr. Graham went on to say that he believed Black candidates, and those from immigrant communities, had a major role to play as long as they reflected “the values” of the state.

“Do I believe that South Carolina is a racist state? No,” Mr. Graham said.

“I am asking every African-American out there, look at my record,” he added, referring to his support of historically black colleges and universities. “I care about everybody, if you are a young African-American, an immigrant, you can go anywhere in this state, you just need to be conservative, not liberal.”

It was not clear what Mr. Graham meant by his remarks. An email to a spokesman on Saturday was not immediately returned.

For his part, Mr. Harrison hammered away on Mr. Graham, calling him “out of touch” and accusing him of prioritizing the confirmation of a new Supreme Court justice over passing a stimulus bill.

On Thursday, Mr. Harrison, who has a pre-existing medical condition, said that he would not participate in a second debate with Mr. Graham unless everyone involved was tested. Mr. Graham had been in the proximity of at least two Republican senators who have tested positive for the coronavirus last week, and Mr. Harrison said he would not “allow politics to put my family, my campaign staff, Senator Graham’s staff, and members of the media at unnecessary risk.”

Democrats spent Friday speculating that Mr. Graham, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, was refusing to take a test because he was worried a positive result would imperil his ability to convene Supreme Court confirmation hearings set to begin on Monday.

“This election is not about just the virus,” Mr. Graham said on Friday night, echoing the comments of other endangered Republican opponents who are being dragged down by Mr. Trump’s handling of the pandemic.