‘This isn’t his fight’: SC’s Norman dismisses Trump’s McCarthy endorsement for House speaker
Despite former President Donald Trump’s endorsement of U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy for House speaker, U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman has not wavered in his opposition to the California Republican.
For the sixth time in two days, McCarthy fell short Wednesday of the 218 votes typically needed to become speaker.
McCarthy, who became the House minority leader in 2018, was the party’s front-runner to succeed Democrat Nancy Pelosi following the November midterm elections. But opposition from a band of roughly two dozen GOP lawmakers, many from the far-right Freedom Caucus, has blocked McCarthy from winning the top role.
On Tuesday, 19, then 20, Republicans didn’t vote for McCarthy, including Norman, who’s from Rock Hill. That number grew to 21 by Wednesday’s fifth roll call.
Early Wednesday, Trump urged Republicans to vote for McCarthy. “VOTE FOR KEVIN, CLOSE THE DEAL, TAKE THE VICTORY,” he wrote on his social media site. He added: “REPUBLICANS, DO NOT TURN A GREAT TRIUMPH INTO A GIANT & EMBARRASSING DEFEAT.”
But Norman, who represents York, Lancaster and Chester counties, wasn’t swayed.
“He’s wrong on that,” Norman said in an interview with WRHI early Wednesday. “I disagree with him. This isn’t his fight, I mean, in all due respect. ... This is a fight in Congress.”
Norman added: “He should have covered this long before the ninth hour with us.”
Other SC Republicans support McCarthy
Other than Norman, all House Republicans from South Carolina voted for McCarthy. During the second and third rounds of voting, Norman voted for Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio. Norman voted for Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida during the fourth and fifth rounds.
South Carolina’s five other GOP House members — U.S. Reps Jeff Duncan, Will Timmons, Nancy Mace, Joe Wilson, and Russell Fry — voted for McCarthy during all five rounds.
Norman has been a vocal opponent of McCarthy’s candidacy since Republicans regained control of the House in 2022. And he made it clear in a Jan. 1 blog post that McCarthy shouldn’t expect his vote.
“What we need — and what I expect — from a House Speaker is someone willing to fight HARD for Republican priorities, especially on fiscal matters,” Norman wrote. “And that’s precisely my concern with Rep. McCarthy.”
Norman insisted that his stance against McCarthy isn’t personal.
But since McCarthy has been minority leader, “there have been so many examples where Republicans have been rolled, where liberal priorities were allowed to prevail without a real debate, where Republican strengths were not leveraged, and where fiscal responsibility was simply cast aside,” Norman wrote.
And Norman reiterated that on Wednesday.
“This isn’t about personality or anything else,” he told WRHI. “This is about getting the job done and having a person who puts the country first instead of big money and big spending that dominate Washington D.C.”
This story was originally published January 4, 2023 at 4:01 PM.
