This week on The New Abnormal, our bonus episode takes you inside the fight against two men producer Jesse Cannon calls “the GOP’s worst congressmen.”
Cannon and host Molly Jong-Fast interview Charles Graham, who is running as a Democratic challenger in North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District against Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC), and Matthew Diemer, who is running against Max Miller in Ohio’s 16th District.
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Graham’s campaign has begun with a bang—a viral video showcasing a little-known story about an indigenous North Carolina tribe, the Lumbee, that faced down the Ku Klux Klan and won. Graham, a member of the tribe himself, is the only Native American in the state legislature. He likened the experience to playing sports in high school.
“I was the only person of color on my teams,” he said. “ I continued to focus on my mission. I’ve confronted and faced racism.”
The district Graham is vying for is a tumultuous one. Bishop is the author of the state’s well-known anti-trans “bathroom bill.”
In Ohio, the 16th District’s seat will be open come the midterms, as Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH), its current congressman, has announced he will not seek re-election after voting to impeach former President Donald Trump. Gonzalez struck a moderate tone compared to his Trumpy counterpart, Max Miller, who is seeking to replace Gonzalez as a Republican coming from further right.
Diemer told Jong-Fast, “We understand that we are a representative for the district, not just for a one certain fraction of the Republican party.”
Miller has risen to a certain level of fame—or infamy, depending on who you ask—through his work at the Trump White House, a fact Diemer is well aware of. Miller was Trump’s “music man,” the person tasked with playing show tunes for the president when he became so agitated nothing else would calm him down. “Memories” from Cats was reportedly a particular favorite.
Now Trump has endorsed the show-tune player’s bid for Congress.
“Does playing an MP3 or playing a song on your phone make you fit to run for Congress?” asked Jong-Fast.
“Max Miller is coming out as a divider already,” said Diemer. “He’s coming out as one side, hard lines, and not really going across the aisle. Ohioans, we agree on a lot more than we don’t agree on. We just need candidates out there to try to unify.”
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