Conservative Congressman Ralph Norman is visiting Iowa on his own accord to campaign for Nikki Haley’s presidential campaign. Norman said he came to know Haley when the two entered the statehouse at the same time.
“I saw what she did as far as recruiting businesses to South Carolina. I saw her take on the establishment,” Norman said. “When she was elected she beat a 30-year incumbent.”
He has voluntarily visited Iowa to stump for Haley out of concern for his grandchildren’s future freedoms.
“I turned down — we had a whole agenda of things to do in sunny South Carolina where it’s 57 degrees,” he said. “I’m not being paid. I’m coming here voluntarily to do anything I can to get her elected. And the reason is this country is in trouble. We can’t continue on this path and I know Nikki can win this race. She can attract moderates, she can attract Independents, she can attract the young, the elderly.
“I’m worried because my children and grandchildren, their freedoms are going away. It’s mob rule now. Look at what you and I are paying for gas. Look at what you and I are paying across the board. I was a real estate developer. I didn’t go into politics until I was 50-some years old. I got involved because I’m concerned if business people don’t get involved, like Nikki Haley, then we’re going to lose it. Career politicians can’t do it and that’s showing on our balance sheet.”
Norman also credited Haley for battling against the ability for lawmakers to vote based on unanimous consent. South Carolina politicians would often campaign on one thing, but then vote another way.
“(Haley) made them put it on the record,” Norman said. “Her record there at the statehouse was unbelievable as far as the economy. If we don’t get this country back on a fiscally sound budget, then it’s the end of our republic. More importantly, she’s the only candidate that beats Biden by double digits.”
Haley, Norman said, gives voters a reason to vote for her.
“Having an 80-year-old (as President) with the shape this country is in and having only four years — that’s not going to get it done,” he said. “I’m in Congress now. I see what it’s going to take. It’s going to take eight years. And the thought of a Kamala Harris leading this country is a total boondoggle and it’s a total tragedy if that happens.”
Haley will control the budget and spending despite her zeal for hawkish military policies by trying to prevent wars.
“We’ve got to have a strong military, which she will fund,” Norman said. “We will have under a Nikki Haley presidency the strongest military this country has had in a long time. How is she going to do it? She will take a scalpel to a lot of the programs and spending that has to be done. We took in $5 trillion and spent $7 trillion. We have a $34 trillion debt. You can’t just keep going like that. It doesn’t happen unless you cut.”
Norman is confident Haley will make those cuts based on how she has managed her campaign.
“She’s spent her money wisely,” Norman said. “Ron DeSantis, as an example, has not.”
Norman called himself one of the top three fiscally conservative members in Congress. And he is confident Haley will work with members of the House and Senate to get the fiscal house in order.
“She did it in South Carolina and she’ll do it across the board and she will sell it,” he said. “Nikki’s likability or her it factor — call it what you want — is second to none and that’s what you’ll see — she will get congressmen on her side and take a scalpel to the budget.”
Haley is unfairly being branded as the establishment pick in this race because she is taking leaps in the polls and successfully fundraising, Norman said.
“They are parsing every word and trying to grasp at straws to paint her as an establishment candidate,” Norman said. “That’s just words and it’s not true.”
Rather, Haley has a record of taking on the establishment, Norman maintained, noting her victory against that 30-year incumbent and then her win for governor against popular opposing candidates.
“And she won with 65 percent of the vote,” Norman said. “You don’t do that by playing soft on the issues. She just gets out there and outworks everybody and that’s what she’s doing now.”
Based on daily conversations with Americans, Norman said citizens are scared right now.
“They’re scared about the crime, they’re scared about paying foreign countries that hate America for our gas and our oil. They’re scared about what’s happening in the universities. They’re scared about an open border where terrorists are coming across that we know of and it only takes one,” he said. “People know that it can’t keep going under a second Biden Administration.”
And that is what has changed. That is the change that Norman said will help heal the wounds created by a hostile primary between Trump and Haley. Trump supporters will support Haley in the general out of such fears.
“(Haley) can bring everybody together,” he said. “You’ve seen her at the town halls and the debates and you like her — she’s articulate. I like her because she does what she says. And that’s just, for politicians, it’s rare. We can’t afford to make a mistake here. We just can’t.”
Norman said the cancers in the country are overspending and the border.
“We used to fight wars across the ocean — it’s here now,” he said.
Based on intelligence reports, Norman said he fears an attack that will make 9-11 “look small.”
“I hate it for the country and the taxpayers — they don’t deserve it,” he said. “Nikki is really worried about what will happen between now and Election Day.”
We asked Norman if he believes Haley may supplant Trump as the nominee due to Trump’s legal issues and potentially being found guilty in a court that allows states to remove him from the ballot.
“That’s going to play out like it will,” he said. “It’s unfair what they’re doing to him. You’ve got people that hate (Trump) who are fueling this. But that will play out like it will.”
Norman said Trump will spend a lot of time in court and a lot of resources on legal fees. He’ll also be tied up during key months of the campaign cycle.
“It’s sad for the political system,” he said. “Nikki will win this thing on her own merits. Hopefully, she’ll get to debate Trump and that’s when she’ll take off.”
While Norman understands Trump’s political calculus that keeps him from debating, Norman said the American people ought to see the potential leader of the free world on a debate stage.
Finally, Norman stressed he trusts Haley will battle for down-ballot candidates and recruit quality congressional representatives.
“We have got a real problem with the existing make up of Congress — both Democrat and Republican,” he said. “Nikki Haley on the down-ballot races will get involved and with her personality, she will recruit candidates that will help her turn this country around. If you’re dependent upon 535 House and Senate members, how has that worked out the last 30 years? Not too good. She will go to work and help us get out of this bankruptcy that we’re heading toward. She’s got the energy and she’s got the likability like no other. Maybe Ronald Reagan had it, but she’s got it on steroids.”
