The Daily Signal - The Daily Signal Presents “The “Signal Sitdown - ‘Congress Is Irredeemable:’ Why I’m Running for South Carolina Governor | Rep. Ralph Norman

Episode Date: November 29, 2025

The 2026 midterms are shaping up to be one of the most consequential midterm elections in modern American history. In November 2024, the American people gave Republicans the trifecta—the White House, the Senate, and the House—a mandate victory that some conservatives did not think possible. Democrats were already expected to have the advantage heading into the 2026 midterms, but  impressive Democrat wins in off-year elections just one year after their thorough electoral embarrassment has cemented the idea that Democrats are poised to make a comeback. As Republicans look to break a blue wave before it crests, Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., joins “The Signal Sitdown” to discuss the 2026 midterm elections and his bid to become the next governor of South Carolina. Norman is looking to leave Washington and head back to South Carolina because “Congress is irredeemable.” Keep Up With The Daily Signal   Sign up for our email newsletters:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.dailysignal.com/email⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠     Subscribe to our other shows:    The Tony Kinnett Cast: ⁠https://megaphone.link/THEDAILYSIGNAL2284199939⁠ The Signal Sitdown: ⁠https://megaphone.link/THEDAILYSIGNAL2026390376⁠   Problematic Women:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠https://megaphone.link/THEDAILYSIGNAL7765680741⁠   Victor Davis Hanson: ⁠https://megaphone.link/THEDAILYSIGNAL9809784327⁠     Follow The Daily Signal:    X:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠https://x.com/intent/user?screen_name=DailySignal⁠ Instagram:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.instagram.com/thedailysignal/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Facebook:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.facebook.com/TheDailySignalNews/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Truth Social:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://truthsocial.com/@DailySignal⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  YouTube:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/dailysignal?sub_confirmation=1⁠    Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform and never miss an episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi, Bradley Devlin here, politics editor of The Daily Signal, and I'm excited to share this episode of my show with the Daily Signal Sitdown with you. The Signal Sitdown is one of the Daily Signal's other podcasts, and each show I bring you inside the biggest battles in Washington, D.C., with some of the biggest names in politics. So if you like what you hear today, make sure you subscribe to the Signal Sitdown for weekly episodes.

We'll see you there. Happy Thanksgiving and welcome to The SignalSiton. sit down. We've got a special episode today for you with our good friend Congressman Ralph Norman. Before we get into that interview, however, I want to make something crystal clear to our audience. The Signal Sit Down will be leaning into our coverage of the 2026 midterm elections, primaries and all. We will continue to talk to as many candidates as possible on this show because the 26 midterm elections have massive implications for the direction of the Republican Party, the direction of the Democrat Party, the Trump administration and its agenda, and most of all for you,

the American people. Across the country, Americans continue to suffer from an affordability crisis in housing, health care, and everyday goods. American citizens are being killed on city streets and subways in a violent crime wave that no one wants to talk about. Everyone thinks we've left the New York City of the 70s and 80s in the rearview mirror, but you're kidding yourself if you think America couldn't return to that level of devastation. Look at the guy New York City just elected as its mayor. Immigration, legal and illegal, are drivers of both the affordability and crime crises, though that's apparently a verboten topic too.

By having these interviews, we simply hope to inform you about the policies that these candidates have embraced to address these crises. While this show is good friends with Congressman Norman, nothing in this interview should be construed as an endorsement of his gubernatorial campaign in South Carolina. The Daily Signal is a nonprofit organization and we do not endorse candidates. That goes for Congressman Norman's campaign

or any campaign of any candidate, local, state, or federal, heading into the 2026 midterm elections. Any of Congressman Norman's opponents have an open, an invite to come on this show and talk about these issues. Any opponent of any candidate we talked to over the next year has that exact same invitation. Congressman Norman will be joining us remotely today, which we will not be making a habit of, but we thought this episode was particularly important not just because of the affordability crisis, but also because Norman was a major player in one of the strangest things I've ever seen transpire on the House floor. Those of you

who watch this show and want your boss to come on or want to come on yourself, don't try asking me for a virtual interview. I want to look you in the eyes and have these conversations that people in Washington, D.C. aren't having, but millions of Americans across the country are. So with that said, we'll take you to the interview with Congressman Ralph Norman. Thank you so much for tuning into the Signal Sit Down. But before we get to the interview, we'd love it if you'd hit that like and subscribe button on YouTube, Spotify, or wherever you may be joining us. And please remember to give us a five-star review because we love your feedback.

Remember, it's your government. And together, we'll expose how it really works and how to affect real change. Without further ado, here's the interview. Congressman Ralph Norman, welcome to the Signal Sitdown virtually. Glad to be with you, bro. I always enjoy your podcast and being on your show. Well, we're always happy to have you, sir. Before we get into the midterms and your current bid for governor in South Carolina,

I want to start with what was probably one of the most interesting things that I've ever witnessed on the floor of the House of Representatives. And that was this entire fight over the Epstein Files, over the Epstein Files, over the Epstein Files Transparency Act, and a resolution that you brought up, a motion that you brought up to censure Stacey Plaskett, the delegate from the U.S. Virgin Islands. And I just want you to tell this whole story, take as long as you need to, all the ends and all the outs, because it is one of the most bizarre things that I've ever seen in Congress. Yeah, Bradley, it's bizarre, and really it's so unfortunate.

And let me just start from the beginning. credit Andy Harris and Chip Roy and other members of our Freedom Caucus to come up with the censor resolution, which we all felt she needed to be censored. Now, here are the facts. Ms. Plaskett is a 11-year, I guess, veteran of being in Congress. She served for that long. She's an attorney. She should. have, I guess, in her defense, come up with something credible as to why she did what she did. But what she did, Bradley, was during the Cohen hearings back in 2000, I guess it was 19, the left

were trying to basically do anything they could to stop Donald Trump. It is a Trump derangement syndrome that is prevalent now on the left. But bottom line, what she did was during her questioning, and actually Chip Roy was present and doing his, had some things that he was saying. But when it came to her line of questioning to Mr. Cohen, She was getting an email of what questions to ask from Jeffrey Epstein. Now, Jeffrey Epstein, you've got to remember, this is 2019. In 2018, he was a convicted pedophile.

He abused young girls. And that was his record. At the time, she had taken money in 2019 campaign money. And during the five minutes that she had to question, he was telling her, was she chewing something, the fact she looked good, and who to ask Cohen about, which was a young lady who was in the, I guess, a confidant or was in the room with President Trump and knew all about the ends and outs of the campaign. bottom line, she wanted him discredited. She thought that Michael Cohen would reveal the name of the person who could do the most damage to the president. And the bizarre thing about this, I mean, that was the, that was the heart of the matter. She was getting information from a convicted pedophile and was getting money. And we just thought it ought to be a censor resolution.

She's owned that. Yeah, so what was her response to this really quick before we get into the censure resolution? I mean, what was her response when this surfaced in the Epstein files that she had been corresponding with Jeffrey Epstein in 2019 during a House Oversight Committee here? The only thing she said, Bradley, was in defense was the fact that she's a lawyer. And she got text from a lot of took advice from a lot of different people. And the only, I guess, bizarre thing that she left out was the fact that he was a convicted pedophile. Secondly, she took all of her five minutes to ask the questions that the convicted pedophile told her to ask on who to, who to ask Cohen to provide information for Michael Cohen to provide that would hurt. President Trump.

And so this was, so that, so she was saying that Jeffrey Epstein was a constituent of hers. And you've been in this town for some time. I don't know. How many constituents do you allow to text you during congressional hearings? And, and basically submit questions for you to ask different witnesses that are brought before the committees that you sit on? I've been in Congress for eight years now. I have never done that.

nor well, I do that. Is it a common practice for other members? If it is, I don't know about it. No, I mean, you're too busy listening. I mean, you only have five minutes. In a lot of cases, you have the one of the Democrats on the opposite side, filibustering trying to take all the time up. Or you have, like if Michael Cohen as was being cross-examined,

that he could delay the fight, run the clock out, basically. But it was, that was a clear-cut violation, in my opinion. She sits on the Intel Committee. She gets information that other Congressmen do not get. And so it's not like she's, you know, just doesn't have sensitive information. And it's not like she doesn't know about her. She's been there for 11 years. So this is where the censure motion comes in, is trying to get her removed from positions

like her seat on the House Intel, the Intel committee, right? And this Intel committee, I mean, let's be very clear about this, what the Epstein Transparency Files Transparency Act does is it release all of the unclassified information regarding Jeffrey Epstein, except for protection of the victim. and some narrowly tailored redactions that are temporary based on current investigations or based on current prosecutions, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. But an increasingly, the narrative that is gaining steam in this town is that Jeffrey Epstein had connections to intelligence.

Whether those, that intelligence apparatus was Mossad or MI6 or KGB, that's still up for debate, it seems like one of those three options is a little bit more likely than the other two, but he was in orbits of individuals with all sorts of intelligence connections. I bring up those three intelligence agencies because those were the intel agencies that Robert Maxwell, Galane Maxwell's father, was attached to at the time where Jeffrey Epstein and Galane Maxwell are kind of developing this relationship. And so you have somebody who had a human trafficking network essentially to have people engage in pedophilic activity

that could be connected to intelligence agencies and is texting, after already being a convicted pedophile, texting a member currently right now sitting on the Intelligence Committee, the House of Representatives, about what to ask people in front of the Oversight Committee in 2019. Is that correct? Absolutely right.

And he paid for it. it. He gave in excess of $30,000 to her campaign at some point. And, you know, this is the, this is a party that has wanted, they sat on the Epstein files for four years under Biden, crickets. You didn't get anything. It was President Trump, who ultimately led the charge to get Jeffrey Epstein convicted. And he was a lady who, who, whose words, she had a word salad, and I told her that made no sense. She left out things that she thought would justify what she did. But in response later, she said she's moving forward. Moving forward from what? Now, she should have, you know, she, to sit on that sensitive of a committee and give a convicted

pedophile information that I'm sure if he asked for, she would be in a position to give it if she did. I don't have any evidence of that. But the bottom line is she thought enough of him to take his emails. She thought enough of him to use the five minutes in her questioning to ask just his questions. And when I brought it before the House, we had an hour of debate. Jamie Raskin and Ms. Plaskett gave their word salad of why it was completely normal. But it just wasn't. And the fact, she couldn't talk her way out of the fact that the emails were there for everybody to see in broad daylight, broad print, whatever you want to call it.

So I was pretty, when the vote came down, you know, I expected the Democrats not to vote for it. But to have my own party, you had three. Yeah. You kind of, this is kind of a, it's a, you surprised a lot of people when this came out. I know a lot of people on Capitol Hill were aware that something was coming down the pike from you and other conservatives in the house looking to hold people accountable for their connections to Jeffrey Epstein. But this, this did catch some people by surprise. And in the end, this vote on this censure resolution, which we can talk about, you know, the voted now and the kind of horse trace. that went on. This vote fails 209 to 214, and you said Republicans voted against it. You had four that didn't show up. You had three that voted president, and you had three that voted against it, Republicans. And if this is not a clear case of, and we referred it to, in my essential resolution, it went to the ethics committee to get more details on it. But we had everything we needed. And for them to cut a deal,

my own party is, let's just say, that's where the contempt for the Republicans comes from. And, yeah, I mean, you don't, at least, you know, as I told people afterward, English is my first language. If they had a problem with what I was doing, tell me, I had a time. And if they were going to pull the rug out from under our argument, tell me why. and I went up to one of them, and he couldn't explain it. And it was interesting right after they voted it down, they pulled Corey Mills. They had a censor resolution on that, and that went out the, I mean, they pulled that.

It later came up the next day. And I had talked to Corey during, before we, I did a censor resolution. He knew it was coming up. And, you know, I vote, Corey is, you know, they didn't. doing, the Democrats are just trying to make an example out of him, and he later had it referred to the, to the ethics committee the next day. But all that being said, to not say anything about it, to vote against it, and to not show up, and to vote present. At Capital One, we're more than just a credit card company. We're people just like you

who believe in the power of yes. Yes to new opportunities. Yes to second chances. Yes, to a fresh start. That's why we've helped over 4 million Canadians get access to a credit card. Because at Capital One, we say yes, so you don't have to hear another no. What will you do with your yes? Get the yes you've been waiting for at Capital One.ca.ca.com. Terms and conditions apply. Get no frills delivered. Shop the same in-store prices online and enjoy unlimited delivery with PC Express Pass. Get your first year for $2.50 a month. Learn more at PCexpress.ca. No, it's, I will address this with the caucus because the fact that if this happened to me,

and it's more than just me, they would do this to other people quietly. Oh, 100%. And well, and this is, and this is the narrative that we get into. And when folks on the right talk about the Republican Party, specifically the Republican Party in Congress as quote unquote, controlled opposition from the left, right, where the, conservative position is just what the left was saying 10 or 15 years prior. And there's never any teeth. There's never any accountability for this march towards financial calamity with the national debt, towards this march towards, you know, massive amounts of corruption in government. And that includes censor motions like this. Like I don't, we'll see what the

Ethics Committee comes out with with respect to Corey Mills case. But the fact stands is that the Republicans are in the majority right now, and you have the facts pretty well established, you just laid them all out with respect to Stacey Plaskett, the delegate from the Virgin Islands, and yet Republicans can't get their house in order and hold people accountable. And that's what you said, contempt, right? This is the contempt that people feel for the Republican Party. And that kind of brings us to the midterms in 2026. and your current bid for governor in South Carolina, I'm not surprised that so many members of the House

are leaving on the Republican side seeking state office, right? You have your friend Andy Biggs in Arizona running for governor there. You have Elise DeFonic running for governor in New York. You have Chip Roy running for Texas AG. You have a lot of solid conservatives all around the country leaving the House to go work at the state level, statewide level, statewide elections to try to make change. I mean, what do you think is driving a lot of really solid conservatives out of Washington and back to their home states? Well, in my case, and everybody would probably have a different answer.

In my case, there are no conservatives running for governor of South Carolina. They just aren't. There are no candidates that would do what I will do. as governor, to balance the books, to put South Carolina on a, put it in the position to win when we don't have our infrastructure in place, we don't have our education in place, we don't have our, you know, so many things, the basics that we just don't do. The other thing, too, Bradley, Congress is irredeemable, in my opinion. You're going to have to change people. this is just a small example of what they will do and I'm so tired of hearing Republicans

campaign on conservatism less government less taxes less regulations and then vote totally opposite because they're part of the deep state and I'm sorry they are they just they play along to go along to get along we're 38 trillion and counting our interest is drowning this country. And if we don't have people to wake up and have the courage to say enough is enough, Mr. Lobbyist, no, you're not getting this money. We're going to, I mean, the trillion and a half that we saved and the reconciliation, that's what the Democrats were trying to claw back in the shutdown. Now, we've withstood that thanks to Donald Trump. And I'll tell you, if it had not been President Trump, they would have folded. And they would have cut a deal. And a tree.

$3 and a 5 is a teardrop in the ocean to handling the debt crisis that is coming our way. I guess it's going to take, as Kevin Roberts said, from Heritage that we're going to have to wake up one morning and no one is buying our bonds. No one is buying our bonds. Then what are we going to do? It's going to be too late then. So the dead stop doesn't have to happen. But I'm convinced I can, instead of being a one of 435, I can be the spokesman, the CEO of South Carolina, and recruit good people to run against these turncoats who get elected under conservatism and then completely forget their, the Republican creed, they forgot, forget where they come from and are adding to the problem.

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. and I'm going to put people against them. I've already said months ago said we need to redraw Jim Clyburn's district. You know, we've got seven congressmen. He negates on every vote. He support Jim Clyburn. I like him personally,

but he supported a man in Joe Biden who was cognitively not there. He supported a man in Joe Biden who opened the border to let criminals across, to let children be abused. He supported that man. And I'm sorry. He needs to at least let the voters decide in a district that's drawn fairly and let the voters decide.

He's been to 31 years. So all in all, and if you ask different people from Jody Arrington to Chip, Chip knows what he can do is the Attorney General. And Jody, I think, will end up at some point in making a difference. But my role is to put our state back on a firm financial footing and to recruit. crew people who are true conservatives and who will do what they say. You pointed out that do you feel like you were the only conservative in this race in South Carolina.

So let's let's kind of lay the groundwork for people who are unfamiliar. Right now you have Nancy Mace running in South Carolina. You have Pamela Evette who's running in South Carolina. You have yourself. You have Alan Wilson, who is the state attorney general there. And you have Josh Kimbril, who's a. state senator in South Carolina. You said you feel like you're the only conservative in that batch. What in your mind sets your candidacy apart? What makes it truly conservative as opposed to

these other? First of all, you know, Nancy's Nancy. She's going, I think she's, as I told her the other day, I feel sorry for her children with that kind of language and what in her addicts. But it is what it is. Secondly, if you look at my record for eight years, I've used every opportunity to advocate for what I campaigned on and voted that way. I've got a 98% conservative record highest among the anybody in my delegation in South Carolina. But even if you compare all the Republicans, I rank in the top 10 on conservatism because I believe in it. And to change the system, you can't be part of the system. And I don't owe anything to the elite powers that be.

We have to make change. My opponents, look, the governor, the attorney general and lieutenant governor have got to bully pulpit whenever they need it. In other words, they can call the press conference. Everything they're talking about, Alan's had 13 years. When has he, you ever heard him advocate for the judge? judicial reform or for putting priorities in place. Pamela Evan, when have you ever heard her take a position on anything? My lieutenant governor will be a workhorse, not blowing bubbles to the

crowd and kissing babies that, you know, is what she's done. She's now saying she's going to do some transformative things, but she's had the opportunity for eight years. She hadn't done it. Same thing Alan Wilson. And Josh Kimball, I don't know that well, but I don't know what he's done in the Senate. I understand he's got a moderate record. All that being said, it's not time for milk toast, lukewarm candidates. This country's got severe challenges. We've got a party now that the Democrat party is openly supporting a Marxist socialist, as the President Trump says, a communist form of government. And we've got a fight on our hands. And we've got to get candidates who's going to say, no, we're not doing that. It's never worked. America was built on Constitution. America recognizes

there is a God. What they're advocating for, the type government is a godless, is a godless type of government that gives power to the few. And I'm going to fight it. I'm going to get candidates who will put their name on the line and have the courage and not change when they're elected to office because they will get elected. A few minutes ago, you mentioned something with respect to how Washington works and the one big beautiful bill. The lobbyists are really mad that we saved $1.5 trillion, even though it's a drop in the bucket compared to our national debt, South Carolina has a unique lobbying apparatus, a unique

lobbying problem, you know, feels like a lot of people in South Carolina are bought and paid for. You know, for example, the base is angry at Lindsay Graham because they perceive him to be someone who gets a lot of money from lobbyists. Now, he has a massive war chest. Others have fallen down that same path of talking to special interests in Washington, D.C., courting and chasing that campaign money. And this is a very specific issue in your state. I know this from talking to you several times over the years. Tell us a little bit about South Carolina's campaign apparatus because it's a deep red state. But as you said, sometimes the leaders don't seem to govern that conservatively. Tell us a little bit about that logging. Get this, Bradley. We've had a,

supermajority in the House. We've only had 36 Democrats out of an 86 Republican, Senate the same way, supermajority in the House and Senate. And the last 10 years, we have expanded government over 100%. We, the corruption that is in Columbia, South Carolina, with finding, as an example, a billion, 1.2 billion at the end of last year, it just magically appeared surplus. And guess who spent it? Politicians. We've had a massive shift of convicted felons, criminals who are walking the streets. We are one of two states that the politicians, a lot of them are trial lawyers, through the Judicial Merit Selection Committee, pick judges. Now, how is that different than a Clemson or Carolina

allowing them to pick their own referees? Virginia is the only other state that does it this way. The frivolous lawsuits are draining the South Carolina. All that to say is you can't be part of the system and change this. And it's going to take a lot of work. But I will use the veto. I will use the bully pulpit. it. I will use every means I know to get South Carolina back on a firm financial footing.

The Constitution calls for a balanced budget every year. Basically, they're on the hook for $9 billion. So all that to say is, it's easily doable. We elect, as governor, a CEO, basically, that runs all facets. And you appoint over 200 commissions. You are the spokesman for the state. And I will use it for the good of the state. And I will use it for change. And I will use it to not benefit the elite few who run it right now. No while I let the lobbyist control have the control like they have. And we all going to have to do this. And Andy Biggs will do it. Byron will do it. and I will do it. In your experience in Washington, I mean, how do lobbyists exert control over?

It's crony capitalism. What's happened there, not only do they advocate for their particular industry, they are active in recruiting candidates that they know they can control and they know that can get the money to the different industries. Why do you think we had $800 hammers and the DOD? Why do you think the massive, the fight we had over the shutdown was over letting illegals tap the war chest of the federal government through Medicaid? I mean, how does that make sense?

It shouldn't even be an argument. And how do you think that the subsidies that the insurance companies are getting or the carve-outs? How do you think the electric car company got 7. thousand five hundred dollars all that that's just a tip of the iceberg but in south carolina i'm going to call it out i'm on in my state of the state i'm going to list everything i'm telling you and i'm going to i'm on once i do the in-depth analysis of every agency of government i'm going to put the most egregious on on the internet and i'm going to when i go to the different communities

i'm going to say this is where we're going to cut and this is where we're going to put it to things that will help South Carolina, our roads, our bridges, our education system, our safety. This is what we're going to do. And then let the people put the pressure on their particular representatives. And I don't care if it's a Democrat or Republican. If you go against these base principles, you're going to get called out. And I'm sure I will have some other episodes of the Stacey Placett outcome where they pull the rug out from under me. But guess what? I'm not going anywhere, and we're going to do it. So you mentioned corruption, and you mentioned going through and auditing exactly what the

South Carolina government is doing, what's in South Carolina's budget. There has been a lot of talk about state-level Doge efforts. Doge comes to South Carolina. I believe you are in support of that idea. How do you envision that working at the end of the day? What do you think could, you know, is this? going to be freeing up taxpayer dollars to go to other initiatives like infrastructure, as you mentioned, or is this going to be something that you want to return to the people in the form of

a tax cut or in the form of, you know, Trump has mentioned sending direct checks to the American people for tariff revenue. You know, would you send Doge savings back in the form of checks directly to South Carolina? What's interesting is all the candidates and the grace for governor of South Carolina and now calling for doing away with, I mean, lowering the tax rates with the highest in the southeast. What they're not talking about is, what are you going to cut? You can't cut to taxes and then keep your spending like it is. It's got to have priorities. I'm speaking to over 300 accountants as soon as I get, leave your podcast. And my message to them is, help me do an in-depth study, call it does, call it whatever you want, to identify the waste

fraud and abuse. And I think it'll shock South Carolina's as the Doge Commission did. But look what Elon Musk did when, you know, you had walls being built in Libya. You had financing for the public broadcast systems, clearly left wing in NPR. You had things that have nothing to do with what's good for this country. And we're fighting a Democrat Party that's all in favor of that because they're socialist and Marxists, and as President Trump said, communists. And we've got a battle on our hands.

But it's not going to cure itself with lukewarm milk-toed candidates. It's just not. And so that's where I'm excited to lend my voice as a CEO, as governor of South Carolina, to help change out Washington and to change out the corruption we've got in South Carolina, which is rampant. So you are prioritized. making sure that that state budget seems balanced, if I understand you correctly, where other candidates have been advocating for a complete and total going away with of the state

income tax. And that state income tax brings in about $6 billion a year. That makes up about 45% of the state's revenue. And you mentioned it. You know, if you want to cut taxes, you've got to cut spending, too. We need to make sure that this budget stays balanced that we don't, that's actually constitutionally required in the state of South Carolina. And yet some folks are advocating for a complete going away of the state income tax. I mean, how are you thinking about the state income tax issue as opposed to looking at it? Well, the big difference with me, I've got the backbone that when the special interest start calling and they're going to call like they did when I became a congressman.

You got to support this. We need this subsidy. And no, you don't. It's not a priority. And I've got to courage to the backbone to say no. And if they want to run a candidate against me, do it. I'm not moved by that. And we're going to have to have more people that are willing.

The other candidates in this race cannot. They haven't done it. And I don't think they will because they've had the opportunity. My record with at every level, at every group has been, the top conservative, one of the top five or eight conservatives who have backed up my rhetoric with my votes. The others cannot say that. And that's where the difference comes. And I'll say this. In Arizona and Florida, the CEO as governor, in South Carolina, we have eight years. It won't be until 2034 that we have another election because incumbent normally wins for governor. Now, we can't

forward eight years of factless, no leadership, or go along to get along. And if we're going to let the lobbyists continue, not under my watch. And it starts with the money, identifying that, then it starts with firm decisions who that will stick and that we the people will see where every dollar goes in a normal administration. They just will. One thing that surprises a lot of people when you talk about the state of South Carolina is that for gosh, I really sense the COVID bounce back of the economy to the extent that it has bounced back. South Carolina has ranked within the top 10 for GDP growth, economic growth, et cetera. And when you look at South Carolina's economy, a surprising amount of that GDP growth can be traced back to manufacturing

automotive manufacturing, aerospace manufacturing, manufacturing in machinery and in plastics. This is part of what President Trump has been pushing on the national level is we want to get the economy going again. And we also want to make sure that it's providing the stable, good jobs for working class Americans while making sure that those jobs are going towards industries that are ultimately going to sever our dependence on places like China. on adversaries abroad, even our allies abroad. We might like Great Britain, but we don't want to depend on them for crucial materials if it ever comes to a war, not against Great Britain, but against any foreign country. You want to be able to produce things here at home. In South Carolina seems to be doing a fairly good job at that.

So first, what is the secret in South Carolina? What has South Carolina done well to make that happen? And the second question is, how do you plan? plan on trying to make that better if you're elected governor? Well, first of all, I would, I would, the reason South Carolina is in a prime position and has done well in attracting the BMWs, the Bowings, the Continentals, the Mitchell entire companies, we've attracted to good companies. Now, the politicians have abdicated their responsibility for spending it in the wrong direction. But there's one state that I would compare

of South Carolina, too, that at one time had everything we have. They had the beaches. They had the pristine national forests. They had, you know, everything going for it, beautiful cities. Under Ronald Reagan, California was a model. And people wanted to... I knew you were going there. You can't help but bash my home state. I know you. Get this, Brad. I went to an airport. Where was I in San Francisco? It's a cesspool for drugs, for homelessness, for tents, under liberal leadership. And that's why liberal leadership does not work. Well, talk about it fish out of water.

Are you walking around San Francisco? Yeah, I'm kind of, I'm not one of them, let's just say that. But I'm not going to, the way I'm going to, I'm going to make South Carolina a business-oriented state. I'm going to make it a conservative state. Some of the best decisions I will make is negotiations for companies that bring value. I don't give away anything. I'm from the business arena, and I've had 30 years of succeeding in a business that's pretty competitive, the real estate development world.

None of the others can say that. They're not business people, and we will make South Carolina business friendly, but some of the best decisions I made in running our company is no. When these companies want you to give the farm under the guise of we'll create jobs, that's not going to work with me. They're going to have to, yes, create quality jobs, but they're going to have to be. a bring something else to the table before they get uh billions of of money and i'm not letting crony capitalism ruin us so i so you think you think that the story of the ruination the ruin of california is crony capitalism correct they put people in office name me a conservative member of the legislature in california that really is doesn't doesn't do what they say you

You can't get elected because they put the money behind these candidates. Gavin Newsom is an embarrassment. He just is. What's ever worked with him? He's a hot house plant that's never done an honest day's work in his life. I could pick people off the street who have run a business. I don't care what kind of business. They would do a better job than he's doing.

He's shipwrecked the state. And that's what's so encouraging to me. You look at those who are running for government. and we mentioned Andy Biggs, we mentioned Byron Donnells, they're going to be great governors. Rhonda Santis did a tremendous job, but it's going to take that kind of bold leadership. And I'm the only one that will do it and not just say it. One of the other things that's going to be a big motivating factor, not just for your race, but for the entire 2026 midterms is affordability and home ownership. That's the biggest concern in my generation for sure.

And an increasing number of my generation feels like they won't be able to own a home. They'll never be able to own a home. The average age of the first time home buyer now in the United States is 40 years old. And just a few years ago, it was 33. Things have changed dramatically in terms of home ownership in this country. South Carolina right now is about five to six percent. the national average in terms of affordability and the cost of living, but housing costs in particular are rising. In January 2021 to 2024, housing costs increased in your home state by

over 20%. And over the last decade, housing costs have increased 83.2% and the average median household income has increased 41.2%. this is a problem. This is a concern for a lot of people in my generation who want to be able to own homes. And so first, how would you tackle the housing affordability issue in your home state of South Carolina? Well, so goes housing. So goes the economy. The reason people ask me all the time, why is that? And I built houses for a long time. You employ probably over 200 different trades from the concrete that goes into the footings to the, to the architect, to the lawyer who closes these transaction. The way you get affordability back is you lower

the basics. You lower the gas prices. You can get the, you incentivize the technical schools who teach home building, who teach welding, who teach let the trades. It's hard to get anybody that if it's hot work, and building a house is very demanding and it's hot work. But it shouldn't be the way it is. And every young person ought to be able to afford a house because what other tax write-off do you have? You can, the regular income that the average South Carolinian has, you can write off every bit of interest. And it's not like the interest rates are, yes, we want them lower, but I was selling houses at 18% back in the, in 1980, early 80s.

But, and it's not just housing because look at the health care. Obamacare has been an abomination. It really has. It's been the unaffordable health care. We've got to, we've got to work, and I think we are, my next year in Congress will be working on presenting a plan that's centered on the patient that is health savings accounts that gets insurance companies out of it and it basically makes health insurance insurance where they can afford it. It's

unaffordable now. And I had a, in my conservative opportunities, we had a speaker who was telling about the doctor shortage. And he compared it to people are not going into medicine anymore. Well, we're going to have a drastic shortage. And he compared it. He said,

what if you can have the nicest car? But if you can't get a mechanic to fix it, what good is a car? And the same thing with medicine. We're going to have to have One, come up with a plan that is affordable that puts it back in the patient's hand, let them decide where they want to go. And it just goes with the housing. If you're not healthy, it kind of precludes a lot of other things. The housing issue will come down, and we're doing it with gas prices of lower.

Lumber is going to come down. are affecting it but that's going to be a driving factor and um i think that in south carolina we're going to have a with a number one state for people coming in the number one suitcase state people coming from new york california illinois and we got so much to offer but it's got to be control growth and it's got to be affordable and it's not affordable in so many areas farming our food the input costs that farmers have, in many cases, the price they're getting it on the open market is less than what they have in it. That's not going to work either. So it's going to be a combined effort on a lot of fronts. Yeah, it has to be a multi-pronged attack because you have the housing

problem, as you said, the health problem, the healthcare issue, the general affordability of living, grocery prices, et cetera. And if you can't put food on the table, and if you don't have a roof over your head and you don't have a doctor there if something goes wrong, chances are you're not going to be in a position, whether you're a state or a nation or a community or a family to succeed, to grow that family, to have more children if you want to raise children in a safe and healthy environment. And that just seems like the big civilizational red flashing warning light going off not only in your state, but across the country, if you don't have strong families, you don't have a strong country, period. End of story. Another thing that contributes to the affordability

crisis in this country has obviously, even though the mainstream media tries to tell you that it has no impact whatsoever, is a legal immigration. A legal immigration is, you know, the Trump administration is working double time to shut the border. They've done so successfully. They're working double time to deport the, what, 10, 20 million illegal immigrants that Biden led in either by the wave of a fake legal wand or just opened the floodgates and let them in. They're working on that overtime. And now they've entered North Carolina. They've headed to Charlotte. ICE operations there are trying to deport illegal immigrants.

They have yet to announce any sort of major operations. in your home state, but you guys also have problems with illegal immigration because of what the Biden administration did to the country over the last four years. Right now, you have nearly 150,000 illegal immigrants in the state. Productions vary that it costs anywhere between $500 million to $1 billion to South Carolina taxpayers. Education usually makes up a quarter of that cost and the tax receipts coming in, you know, the left loves to say that illegal immigration, well, they pay their taxes and they pay for themselves. It's completely and totally not true, especially in the state of South Carolina. The tax receipts on undocumented or illegal immigrants

or whatever the politically correct term is now is so incredibly minuscule. So how do you plan on tackling illegal immigration in the state of South Carolina, even though you guys are a border state, it's still a problem. And two, what type of relationship would you have with the Trump administration in making sure that those who should not be in this country are put back in their countries of origin? First of all, Bradley, President Trump hired the perfect person to control the or to get the illegals out of this country in Tom Holman. He's spoken to our group several times. He's a committed warrior, and he's been fought at every level by the Socialist Democrat Party, the six or the seven politicians that were said to defy what President Trump is trying to do

with deporting, you know, the illegals. Sure, there's some that get called up. Sure, there's some that have, have good, hardworking people and that contribute. Bottom line, though, if you're illegal, you shouldn't be here. And President Trump, Christian Hone, was right to offer the incentives to turn yourself in, to go back, and then come in the legal way. But what Biden did was, as you know, he opened the floodgates to anybody and everybody, including criminals. And I take a picture with me of the little Ukraine girl who, right before she was killed on the train in Charlotte,

by a person who had had multiple arrest, 40 arrests, he had 20-something felonies. It was revolving door. But look at Lake and Riley in Georgia killed by an illegal. And part of the criminals, the crimes they're committing, we don't even know about. It's just the ones we are publicized. But no, he's doing it. We're paying for it two and three times because we flew them over here. I paid a visit to the border.

And on my flight back to South Carolina, guess who was on the flight? Most legals with a number and a card across the chain to the neck. And Biden thought he was, that the purpose was to create a ruling class we're going to vote for Democrats to keep him in office. And it's not working. And thank God, President Trump has taken the lead on this. No, what I would do is welcome Tom Holman. I welcome him to take those out of the system.

And he's looking for the criminals now. You know, the press wants to think he wants you to think that he's taking children out of classrooms. No, he's looking for violent criminals who committed crimes, who have a record. And he knows where they are. This isn't just a spontaneous shotgun approach. He's getting, in Charlotte alone, the first two days,

he had over 130 criminals who had a record that they knew about that would be in flown back. So I fully support that. Is it causing some delays in work? Yeah. People are scared to go out

if they figure they're going to get, you know, they're going to get hauled back. And for the most part, they're good, but the criminals have got to go. And there's no other way to do it, Bradley, than the way that Tom Holman is doing.

and targeting areas going in and making sure that criminals are harm in the innocent public like they've done in so many cases. So last question for you, as we head into midterm year, 26, top concern of Republicans, what should be top of mind of every Republican candidate hoping to get elected on the federal level or the state? Top concern is the affordability crisis in health care and in housing. The other top concern is having people, we will maintain control if we do what we say, and if we match our campaign rhetoric with good legislation, we come up with common sense plans,

and we don't have what happened to me on a sense of resolution where we had our own party pulling the rug out for something that in the overall scheme of things were small, but then it wasn't so small. We've got to come into solutions that work for the country, and we've got to have more cuts. We've got to have another reconciliation bills that we could easily have $5 trillion, easily. And get on board with supporting that with our conservatives. Will it happen? We'll see. Congressman Ralph Norman, thank you for coming on.

Always my pleasure. Thank you. Thank you so much for tuning into the Signal Sitdown. Before you go, be sure to hit like and subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, or wherever you may be joining us. And please remember to give us a five-star review. We not only love your feedback, but it really does help the show. Remember, it's your government, and together we'll expose how it really works. See you next time.