South Carolina Senate Runoff & the Fake Poll That Fooled the Press | Pfaff, Connelly episode artwork

EPISODE · Aug 24, 2026 · 1H 23M

South Carolina Senate Runoff & the Fake Poll That Fooled the Press | Pfaff, Connelly

from The Jenny Beth Show · host Jenny Beth Martin, Jim Pfaff, Chad Connelly, Robert McNeily

Guests: Jim Pfaff and Chad Connelly, with Robert McNeely Jim Pfaff is the president of The Conservative Caucus and a recurring guest on this show. He spent roughly thirty years on Capitol Hill and around national politics, and he convened the private meetings that became the House Freedom Caucus, sitting in the room as the only staffer. Chad Connelly is the founder of Faith Wins, an organization that has registered more than two million new evangelical voters over the last two election cycles, and the former chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party. He joins from a pastors' meeting in South Carolina the day before the runoff. Robert McNeely, a former broadcaster and a regular contributor to the show, joins for the closing Rapid Round. Key topics: The South Carolina special primary runoff, and how many votes actually decide a United States Senate seat in late August Chad Connelly's turnout model: 265,000 projected, 342,000 delivered, and what early voting at 104 percent of the primary means The endorsement split, with President Trump, Governor Henry McMaster and Majority Leader John Thune on one side and Senators Mike Lee and Rick Scott on the other Why Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund endorsed Ralph Norman after polling its South Carolina supporters The debate answer on national security, the audible gasp in the room, and why honesty is not the same as readiness Frustration with the Senate over the SAVE America Act, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, and John Thune's vote count Senator Chris Van Hollen on whether Democratic Socialists belong in the Democratic Party, and what he said about accepting their endorsement Chad Connelly on recruiting and training poll watchers and poll workers, and why the parties keep signing people up and never following through Jim Pfaff on Republicans conceding the argument instead of fighting for an eighty percent issue John McCain suspending his campaign for the bailout vote, the stimulus that followed, and where the Tea Party movement came from Milton Friedman answering Phil Donahue on greed, and the rise of government greed Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service proposing that four refundable tax credits are federal public benefits under the 1996 welfare reform law Enes Kanter Freedom entering the 2027 Women's National Basketball Association draft, and getting removed from a game in Chicago Data centers as a live campaign issue, small nuclear power generation, and why the old industrial power plants disappeared Elon Musk's plan to put data centers in orbit The fake polling firm, the 23.5-point miss in Wisconsin, and the four questions to ask before you believe any poll How to sign up as a poll worker or a poll watcher, and the difference between them The national debt crossing 40 trillion dollars, and what that works out to per household Timestamps: 00:02 — Cold open: fewer than 400,000 voters pick a senator 03:32 — The panel: Jim Pfaff and Chad Connelly 04:24 — An August runoff nobody is watching 05:46 — Why Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund endorsed Ralph Norman 07:25 — President Trump's endorsement against Senator Mike Lee's 10:46 — The debate clip: national security is not her thing 15:17 — What South Carolina said about that debate 18:10 — What changes the day after Labor Day 19:54 — Senator Chris Van Hollen on Democratic Socialists in his party 24:53 — Chad Connelly: Christian eyeballs on the process 27:44 — Jim Pfaff on Republicans conceding the argument 34:02 — John McCain, the bailout, and the campaign he threw away 37:03 — Where the inflation actually came from 42:15 — Milton Friedman on greed, and government greed 48:04 — Rapid Round: Robert McNeely joins 48:23 — Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service move on four tax credits 50:17 — Enes Kanter Freedom and the Chicago Sky 54:47 — Data centers, power generation, and the election 01:03:39 — Elon Musk wants the data centers in space 01:06:09 — The fake poll that fooled the press 01:11:10 — Four questions to ask about any poll 01:13:09 — The call to action: poll workers and poll watchers 01:18:19 — The national debt crosses 40 trillion dollars Links mentioned: Sign up to be a poll worker or a poll watcher: HelpAtThePolls.com The show: jennybethshow.com Tea Party Patriots Action: teapartypatriots.org Capitol switchboard: 202-224-3121

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South Carolina's Senate runoff is decided tomorrow, and fewer than 400,000 Republicans will likely make the choice. Jenny Beth Martin opens on the two names on that ballot: Congressman Ralph Norman, who told the Senate to hold a talking filibuster on the SAVE America Act, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, and keep the floor open all night until it took the bill up, against Senator Darline Graham Nordone, appointed six weeks ago to the seat her late brother Lindsey Graham held. Chad Connelly ran the South Carolina Republican Party and is on the ground with pastors in four counties this week. He walks through the turnout model, the county-by-county early vote, the negative advertising that landed in the final ten days, and where he thinks it breaks. Jim Pfaff, who helped organize the House Freedom Caucus before it had a name, argues the case for readiness in a Senate that confirms everyone who touches foreign policy. Then the story nobody in the political press wants to talk about. A 21-year-old built a polling company that did not exist, used artificial intelligence to stand up the website, published statewide numbers, and watched reporters print them. One of those fabricated polls had a Democratic Socialist candidate for governor of Wisconsin ahead by 23 points. She lost by half a point. Also in this hour: Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service moving to bar illegal aliens from four refundable tax credits, Enes Kanter Freedom and the Women's National Basketball Association, data centers as a ballot issue, and a national debt that just crossed 40 trillion dollars. More at jennybethshow.com and teapartypatriots.org.

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South Carolina Senate Runoff & the Fake Poll That Fooled the Press | Pfaff, Connelly

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