House Republican Says ‘The Only Thing I Regret’ About Calling for ‘Marshall Law’ After Trump Loss Is Misspelling ‘Martial’
Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) told CNN on Wednesday that the “only thing” he regrets about calling for “Marshall Law” following former President Donald Trump’s loss in 2020 was misspelling the word “martial.”
During an interview with Norman on her show The Source, CNN host Kaitlan Collins asked the congressman whether he stood by his call for martial law just days before President Joe Biden’s inauguration:
Congressman, you know, one thing that you have said on the campaign trail for Nikki Haley, repeatedly, when questioned about what is her path to victory, is you talk about the voters and you say the voters should be the ones to decide. Obviously, everyone agrees with that. But when you talk about what the voters decide, I have to ask you because you and I have never spoken before in an interview about a text message that you sent to Mark Meadows. It was three days before President Biden was inaugurated, and you were urging the White House to use the U.S. military to prevent the peaceful transfer of power. Do you regret sending that message?
Norman replied, “The only thing I regret, I misspelled martial law. I misspelled that. No, I didn’t– I didn’t– Look, everything happened so quick in that election. The time that was given to see if the ballots were real.”
He continued, “There were questions, as you know. There were questions throughout the election process. What happened in Georgia was unusual, what happened in Arizona was unusual. Look, I talked to the congresspeople that served those particular states. But no, I don’t regret that at all, and there are still questions that linger today.”
Collins questioned:
Sir, what questions are there that linger today? Because this is really important. We are approaching another election, and when you talk to Republican voters in CNN exit polls, half of them don’t believe that Joe Biden legitimately won the election, which he did. And calling for martial law because you have questions about the election, I think most people would agree is subverting the will of voters that you often talk about that are so important.
Norman declared, “The bottom line is we’ve got to have secure elections and whatever that takes. There are a lot of questions that still exist. You know, you’ve seen the lawsuits that were there. But no, I wouldn’t take it back. I misspelled it, I should have taken the time– I was in a hurry, but no, I would not– I don’t regret that.”
“Those lawsuits were all thrown out; none of them amounted to anything,” Collins pointed out. “The only place where they found they miscounted, Biden actually had a bigger margin than he initially did.”
The CNN host concluded, “Congressman, it is striking to hear you say that you stand by asking for martial law to be declared three days before Biden was elected. I just wanted to make sure we talked to you about that, so thank you Congressman Ralph Norman for your time tonight.”
Watch above via CNN.
