Welcome to what is the 930th original profile here at “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day”, where we’ll be discussing the current U.S. House Representative from South Carolina’s 5th District, Ralph Norman, a long-time South Carolina state legislator who was first elected to Congress back in 2017, winning office by finishing second in the GOP Primary for the seat in a special election, and then winning the runoff for that seat by all of 221 votes. That set him up to defeat the Democratic candidate, Archie Parnell, in the general election and advance to replace former Congressman Mick Mulvaney (who went on to be the Trump administration’s crooked budget director).
The point where Ralph Norman stood out the most since taking office, however, was when he was questioned by representatives of Moms Demand Action on Gun Violence at a campaign event while running for re-election in April of 2018 and Norman pulled out a loaded .38. If that doesn’t sound a tad extreme enough, he was quoted as he placed the gun on the table as boasting, “I’m not going to be a Gabby Giffords,” which is a pretty disrespectful take on how Giffords was shot, frankly. That somehow isn’t the most offensive thing he’s said about a Democratic woman during that campaign.
In September of 2018, while shocking revelations were being revealed about Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh being credibly accused of sexual assault by Christine Blasey Ford and then, Deborah Ramirez, Ralph Norman thought it would be a great idea to open up with a “joke” about women accusing men of making up accusations against Republicans, saying that “Ruth Bader Ginsburg came out saying she was groped by Abraham Lincoln”.
Classy, no? It’s the sort of highbrow commentary you would expect from the sort of mother***er who would start petitioning for the openly racist Congressman, Steve King, to be reinstated to all of his committee assignments. Yes, Ralph Norman felt Rep. King deserved his 189th chance at not being racist from party leadership.
So there’s no surprise that his voting record looks like this:
- October 3rd, 2017: Norman votes for HR 36, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, that would try to create an unconstitutional ban abortion at 20 weeks (even though medical science tells us fetuses do not have the capability to feel pain until 29 weeks).
- December 19th, 2017: Ralph Norman votes for HR 1, the GOP’s $1.7 trillion tax cut to benefit the wealthiest Americans and corporations permanently that coincidentally also removes the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate and kicks 13 million people off their health insurance.
- February 18th, 2018: Rep. Norman and his fellow Republicans decide that poor big businesses are suffering too much at the hands of the Americans with Disabilities Act too much, and vote for HR 620, which would strip most of the civil rights protections guaranteed by it.
- May 2nd, 2018: Ralph Norman is one of 18 Republicans who sign on to a letter asking to nominate Donald Trump for a Nobel Prize for meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
- January 23rd, 2019: Rep. Norman voted against HR 648, because he was gleefully enjoying the longest government shutdown in history.
- January 27th, 2019: Ralph Norman votes against HJR 30, which was meant to express disapproval of Donald Trump not acting against Russian Federation for attack Norman our democracy.
- February 28th, 2019: Norman votes against HR 1112, a bill which would have required universal background checks on all firearm purchases, and close the gun show loophole.
- March 14th, 2019: Rep. Norman votes against HJR 46, which sane members of Congress voted for to reject Donald Trump’s “national emergency” regarding the U.S. border and his attempts to reallocate funds for a border wall without Congressional approval.
- April 4th, 2019: Ralph Norman is one of 158 Republicans who choose to vote against the re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act, likely because they feel the 2nd Amendment remaining absolute is more important than preventing people with a history of domestic abuse from owning a firearm (which statistics show, makes them more likely to use those firearms against
- May 17th, 2019: Norman votes against The Equality Act, which would have prevented discrimination towards Americans based on their gender identity or sexual orientation.
- June 4th, 2019: Rep. Norman votes against the Dreamers Act, because she’s too xenophobic and partisan to care about immigration reform.
- July 12th, 2019: Norman is one of 12 Republicans who vote against the re-authorization of the Zadroga Act to provide healthcare to 9/11 First Responders.
- July 16th, 2019: Ralph Norman votes against a resolution to condemn Donald Trump for his racist statements that four people of color in Congress should “go back where they came from”.
- October 17th, 2019: Norman is one of 60 Republicans who vote against HJ Res 77, which opposed Donald Trump’s disastrous decision to abandon Syrian Kurdish forces in Northeast Syria to the mercies of a Turkish invasion.
- October 23rd, 2019: Norman is one of 41 Republicans who, while staring down the possibility of Donald Trump being impeached, stage a ridiculous publicity stunt in response by crashing a classified impeachment inquiry hearing for a “protest”.
- December 3rd, 2019: Rep. Norman is one of 71 Republicans who votes against a resolution to disallow Russia from re-entering the G7 and makes it the G8 until it leaves Ukraine.
- December 18th, 2019: Norman ignores his Congressional duty to hold a president who has been proven to commit high crimes and misdemeanors accountable and votes against the impeachment of Donald Trump.
- May 15th, 2020: Norman votes against the HEROES Act, to further support the healthcare industry and citizens affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
- October 2nd, 2020: Norman is one of 17 Republicans who vote against a resolution to condemn the Qanon conspiracy theory after its followers started to make death threats against Democratic Congressman Tom Malinowski.
South Carolina’s 5th Congressional District has a +9 Republican lean in the Cook Partisan Voting Index, which would make Norman’s seat in play here in a few days, based on how generic Democratic candidates are given a +8 advantage going into the 2020 elections. And the Democrat running against him seems tailor-fit for the upset… former University of South Carolina Gamecocks wide receiver Moe Brown. He’s all of 31 years old, and has already worked for six years in South Carolina’s Dept. of Commerce. Brown has stated a repeated commitment to helping working families that, during a pandemic, sounds like exactly the focus the country needs.
That’s certainly a better message than the one that Ralph Norman is putting out there, where he’s hanging out with a bunch of quack doctors (yes, including the demon sperm lady) and claiming they have a cure for Covid-19 (they don’t). Social media platforms, incidentally, yanked Norman’s campaign video for having misleading information, and we’re hoping the voters of South Carolina’s 5th also yank him right out of office on Tuesday.
One Year Ago, October 26th, 2019: Mark Sanford (SC)… 2019 Update
Two Years Ago, October 26th, 2018: Mark Sanford (SC)… 2018 Update
Three Years Ago, October 26th, 2017: Mark Sanford (SC)… 2017 Update
Four Years Ago, October 26th, 2016: Mark Sanford (SC)… 2016 Update
Five Years Ago, October 26th, 2015: Mark Sanford (SC)… 2015 Update
Six Years Ago, October 26th, 2014: Mark Sanford (SC)… Original Profile