H2 - Rep. Ralph Norman discussed his election loss to Darlene Graham, pledged Republican support, and took caller opinions.

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Transcript Audience/Chorus: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Vocalist: O beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain. For purple mountain majesties above the fruited plain! America! America! God shed His grace on thee, and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea! Audio Clip: America is back! Charlie James: And we are back! Thank you so much for joining us this afternoon. Joining us right now is Representative Ralph Norman. Representative Norman, welcome to the program. Hope you're doing well, sir. Ralph Norman: Doing great, Charlie. Glad to be with you. Charlie James: Let me just start off with this. I mean, it seemed like in a—there was a video out today that says that you are telling people in November to write you in. Is that what you're doing? Ralph Norman: No. I'm not. Look, I—and I've signed a pledge and I'm supporting the Republican nominee. And there was a—they took that off a statement that I didn't—they asked me a question about what should I say, and I didn't know they were talking about the election. I just said "Vote Ralph Norman," but no, I wouldn't do that. Darlene won, and I'll be supporting the Republican nominee. Charlie James: How hard is that? I mean, we know this was a brief but brutal campaign. How hard is it to put those ill feelings aside and go in and throw your support towards Darlene Graham? Ralph Norman: Well, Charlie, what happened is—it's just, I feel for South Carolina. Not for me, but to have, I mean, Washington, D.C. elite pick the senator. And as I've been pretty open about it, I did not understand why President Trump did what he did. We have 21 seats that are up for election—five held by Democrats, 16 by Republicans—but it's going to be a challenge to maintain, you know, our majority, which is real important. And so, to get involved in a primary like this when I supported him 96, 98% of the time, I just don't get it. And I've been open about that. And it was a pretty negative campaign for the President to put in close to $850,000 the Friday before the election. And what they were saying is just not true. I mean, he was doing robocalls saying I was cutting Social Security and made money in politics. You know, I don't mind debating issues, but with what they did, to me... I mean, I never said a bad word about her, and I'm not going to. She did call me today, but as I mentioned, because I've been asked a lot about the write-in: No, I would not do that to her and it's not right to suggest that, and I wouldn’t. So I cleared all that up. No, I'm going to be supporting the nominee. Is it hard to get over? The way it took place, to be honest with you, is. And it's bigger than me, because when you sign up to run for politics, you can win or you can lose. It's kind of like playing a football game. The final score determines if you win or lose, and I accept that. But now, the way it was done was unbelievable to me. But no, I'll get over it. There are far more important things to worry about. I'm worried about this country. I'm worried about our young people being able to afford houses, being able to start businesses and succeed and fail. Democrats are now the socialist communist party. It just is. So I'll do whatever it takes to put Republicans in, and true Republicans—people who don't just campaign, but who back it up with their votes. And that's what I have always done. Charlie James: Now, one of the things that bothered me: We knew that a Republican was going to win this seat in South Carolina in the Senate. Meanwhile, you've got a race in Texas between Ken Paxton and Talarico. That's neck and neck. Shouldn't the money they spent on this race have gone toward that one? Ralph Norman: You would think. And look at Scott Perry in Pennsylvania—he's always got a tough race. Jen Kiggans in Virginia, Derrick Van Orden in Wisc ...

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