A prominent advocate for Donald Trump supporters prosecuted for crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol has endorsed Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) in the Republican primary for a U.S. Senate seat from South Carolina.

Norman faces Sen. Darline Graham (R-S.C.), sister of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), in a primary runoff election on Tuesday. Graham was appointed to the seat in July following her brother’s sudden death.

Matt Braynard said Norman helped him in his advocacy for Jan. 6 defendants when few other elected Republicans wanted anything to do with the Capitol rioters. In the weeks and months following the riot, many Republicans were still willing to admit the president had incited a criminal attack on the U.S. Capitol.

“Despite this, Congressman Norman, one of his constituents, and I joined a phone call where he agreed with us that these patriots were being mistreated and politically persecuted, and he said he would send a letter to the DOJ,” Braynard explained in an email to subscribers to his nonprofit, Look Ahead America.

“What I remember most about this call was that I really bullied him to do more, to the point of being rude. Despite this, Congressman Norman was congenial and kind throughout, and he followed through on his promise to send the letter,” Braynard wrote.

In a message on social media, Braynard said Norman’s opponent was not similarly concerned for the welfare of the hundreds of rioters then languishing behind bars.

“All the while, DEI Darlene [sic] was discriminating against White people and Lindsey was calling peaceful J6ers terrorists,” Braynard wrote.

Despite Norman’s support for his most loyal foot soldiers, Trump has endorsed Graham in the Senate race. Though her late brother may have criticized the president for the riot, and even said he was done with Trump after Jan. 6, he came around within months and died as one of Trump’s biggest backers on Capitol Hill.

But the power of the president’s endorsement may have faded a bit, with Trump-backed candidates losing in several Republican primaries last week, and Braynard’s endorsement of Norman is one small example of the Trump coalition cracking.

Braynard lobbied the government on behalf of Jan. 6 rioters and even staged a rally near the Capitol in September 2021, when outrage over the attack remained fresh. The few Trump supporters who attended were outnumbered by police and reporters.

Now, of course, Trump has pardoned all the rioters, and some of the most violent offenders triumphantly marched to the Capitol on the fifth anniversary of the siege this January. Norman has joined Trump’s efforts to rewrite the history of that day, claiming the riot was somehow “staged” to entrap the president and his supporters.

“There was a riot there but it was a self-made riot by members who hate Trump. It was made up, in my opinion,” Norman told reporters earlier this year.

Norman’s and Graham’s campaigns didn’t respond to requests for comment.

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