South Carolina multimillionaire Republican Rep. Ralph Norman acknowledged that the public is seeing higher prices as a result of tariffs imposed by Trump, even though the president claims that prices are lower. However, he somehow argued that it's "for the good of the country." As a reminder, last year, before the election, Trump stood in front of a table filled with grocery items. Donald told voters, "When I win, I will immediately bring prices down, starting on Day One." That, however, unsurprisingly, didn't happen. The opposite happened.
“I think a lot of people are seeing higher prices," Norman, who is running for Governor, said Saturday on Fox News. "Our family’s in the construction business, and we get a lot of our timber from Canada and other countries. Yes, it’s higher. Steel prices are up, but it’s for the good of the country."
"How do you see the economy right now?" host Jon Scott asked.
"Look, the economy is doing really well, particularly when Donald Trump in 7 short months has brought gas prices down, oil prices, eggs, you name it, you know, the, the tariffs to level out the playing field, why should other countries not have reciprocal tariffs if they charge us, why haven't we been charging them and you've had the Biden administration was weak on that and allow China to rule the the day particularly," Norman insisted.
The economy is not doing well. And beef prices in the US are currently at record highs. The majority of adults in this country are concerned about the rising costs of groceries. And Norman admitted there will be pain.
"Is there gonna be some pain?" Norman asked. "Absolutely, but what this president has done is give confidence back in foreign countries to invest here. I know in South Carolina we've got an announcement after announcement of great industries coming in, and I think to suffer a little bit of pain will be well worth it to level the playing field."
Except that foreign direct investment (FDI) into the US appears to be lower in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same quarter in 2024.
"We're putting America first," he said. "It's the tax bill. It's the drill, baby, drill, the reduced regulations that have increased worker pay. All of those things have worked for family income, and a lot of those reforms were pretty obvious."
"Biden never did them," he added.
During Trump's first godawful term, he surpassed the total debt accumulated during the first 216 years of the Republic, adding nearly $8 trillion to the national debt. But sure, bring up Biden, who did not do that, and who brought stability to the economy after being handed an apocalyptic mess. Grocery prices are so high that torches and pitchforks are ready to be taken out of the attic.
