Rep. Russell Fry discusses his dual run, the filibuster, and foreign policy

What this episode covers

Pledge of Allegiance Lead: 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. Singer: Oh, 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! Donald Trump (Audio Clip): America is back! Charlie James: Yes, sir, and we are back! Joining us right now, you saw him in the debate last night, he is the 7th Congressional District Congressman, Russell Fry, running for Senate here in South Carolina. Congressman Fry, welcome to the program. Hope you're doing well. Russell Fry: Charlie, thanks for having me. Great to—great to be on the show. Charlie James: So, you... let's just go ahead and, you know, there's an 800-pound elephant that we got to get to. Um, you are not only running for the United States Senate, you're also running for the 7th Congressional District. If you win the Senate, you're going to have to abandon the—your seat in the House. Um, that's going to create another special election. What was your thought process behind running for both of these seats simultaneously? Russell Fry: Well, I think—I think it's important to remember, too, that, you know, you didn't walk in in March on filing and say, "I'm going to run for both." This is a, you know, sad circumstance that—that we find ourselves in. Uh, it is a little bit odd and peculiar, but we've had this happen before in South Carolina, um, in the state, uh, the State Senate and uh, House. Uh, there's a uh, candidate in the Upstate, there's a State Senator who kind of had the same circumstance. We've also seen this in uh, Wisconsin when Paul Ryan was selected to be the vice presidential nominee; he was actually on the ballot twice. So, it is a little bit peculiar. What—what... I think the important thing is, is that the General Assembly is aware, and they released a joint statement, I guess it was a couple weeks ago, Speaker Murrell Smith and President Thomas Alexander saying, "Look, we recognize this. We want the most robust field of candidates and their qualifications. We want the—the broadest possible selection so that voters have choices, and we are ready on the back end. We have tools at our disposal to make sure that somebody is able to serve on day one." I felt comfortable with that, uh, and—and—and jumped in. So, it is kind of a peculiar circumstance, but Senator Graham, you know, unfortunately, uh, is no longer with us. Uh, but, you know, to me, I think that—that it is important that w- we have a robust, energetic, new conservative face, uh, ready to tackle the tough issues. The Senate, the old way of doing things, frustrates the voters. It frustrates me when good conservative legislation goes there and just languishes time after time. And so, I—I looked at, you know, talked to my wife. We—we were very prayerful about this. Uh, I talked to my son; he was very excited. And—and I said, "You know, th- this country, you know, if you can take a—a poor boy like me from Surfside Beach, that's where I was originally from, and the opportunities that this country affords people like me, working, uh, men and women, families with—with no political pedigree or uh, inherited money, if you can take that and we can make a success story, and there are so many, and if we can do that over our 250-year history uh, to become the most prosperous country on Earth, I think we owe it to the next generation, for the next 250 years. But that starts right now, and that's—that—that starts with selecting and electing fighters, people who want to be in the arena. Uh, I think people are very tired, Charlie, of—of electing somebody to sit up there and push a button, think they've been impactful, um, and—and then go home. People want, you know, a little tenacity, a little bit of blue-collar grit. Cha ...

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