Highlights:
2021: Mace Voted To Certify The Electoral College Results. According to the Post and Courier, “Mace was the only Republican from South Carolina who voted to certify the Electoral College results that secured President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. ‘I’m not going to be voting with any of those folks,’ Mace said. ‘I am not going to vote to overturn the results of the Electoral College because I do not believe that Congress knows better than voters or better than the states.’” [Post And Courier, 12/26/21]
Mace Refused To Join Congressional Objectors To Biden’s Victory. According to CNN, “Mace did not vote to impeach Trump, but she refused to join congressional objectors to President Joe Biden’s victory, earning the former President’s wrath. Faced with charges of insufficient loyalty to Trump, she drew a challenge from Katie Arrington, who defeated then-Rep. Mark Sanford, another Trump critic, in the 2018 primary but went on to lose the general election.” [CNN, 6/14/22]
Mace Said Trump’s Accomplishments “Were Wiped Out In Just A Few Short Hours” After January 6. According to the Post and Courier, “‘Every accomplishment that Republicans have made over the last four years, including President Trump had (made),’ she said, ‘were wiped out in just a few short hours,’ Mace told The Post and Courier on Jan. 7.” [Post And Courier, 12/26/21]
Mace Said She Was “Disappointed” In The Hours After January 6. According to POLITICO, “In an interview on CNN, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) fiercely condemned the violence that unfolded the previous day across the Capitol complex, which resulted in four deaths and both chambers of Congress being forced into lockdown after pro-Trump rioters breached the building’s walls. But she saved particular criticism for the president, who had incited his supporters earlier Wednesday afternoon at a rally outside the White House. In those fiery remarks, Trump encouraged the crowd to march on the Capitol and told them that ‘you’ll never take back our country with weakness.’ ‘I’m disappointed right now,’ Mace, who worked for Trump’s 2016 campaign, said Thursday morning. ‘I think that after last night — and I’m on my 100th hour of being a member of Congress, I’m working on about two hours of sleep — I’m distraught. We’ve got to rebuild our nation, and we’ve got to rebuild our party. This is not who we are. It’s extremely distressing. And it’s saddening. It’s heartbreaking.’ As for the president, ‘everything that he’s worked for ... all of that — his entire legacy — was wiped out yesterday,’ she added. ‘We’ve got to start over.’” [POLITICO, 1/7/21]
Mace Came To Congress Declaring She Would Be A “New Voice” For The Republican Party. According to the Washington Post, “Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), whom Haley endorsed in 2022 against a Trump-backed GOP challenger, threw her support behind Trump this week after coming to Washington in 2021 with declarations of becoming a ‘new voice’ for the Republican Party.” [Washington Post, 1/24/24]
Mace Discussed With Aides The Prospect Of Confronting January 6 Rioters To See If She Could Get Punched And Become The Face Of Anti-Trump Republicans. According to the Washington Post, “Mace was so angry at Trump during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol that she discussed with aides the prospect of confronting the rioters so she could get punched and become the face of anti-Trump Republicans, according to former staffers familiar with the incident, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retribution.” [Washington Post, 1/24/24]
Sources Said Mace Wanted To “Get Punched In The Face” And Said Several People In The Office Heard It. According to the Daily Beast, “According to three sources who heard the comments firsthand, Mace used those exact words: She wanted to go ‘get punched in the face.’ ‘She literally begged us to let her leave the office and head to the floor so she could ‘get punched in the face’ and ‘get media attention,’’ one former aide said, who shared the story on the condition of anonymity. ‘That’s word for word what she requested.’ The source continued that there were ‘several of us in the office who heard it.’ ‘And she had been in office for three days, if that tells you anything about her motivation,’ this former aide said. Mace ultimately backed off the idea in the face of pushback from her staff.” [Daily Beast, 1/24/24]
Mace Called Herself A “Never-Trumper” To Her Staffers On January 6. According to the Washington Post, “Mace — who also declared to her staff during the riot that she was a ‘never-Trumper’ — made the comments while she was hiding with staff in her office in the Cannon House building as they watched rioters march through the Capitol on television. If there was video of her challenging rioters on social media, it could give credence to her anti-Trump position, these people said of Mace’s thinking at the time. Staffers pushed back against their then-freshman boss, citing guidance from U.S. Capitol Police. Mace eventually set aside the idea, according to the people.” [Washington Post, 1/24/24]
2021: Trump Recruited A Primary Challenger To Run Against Mace After He Endorsed Her During Her 2020 Campaign. According to the Post and Courier, “Trump, who had endorsed her during her 2020 campaign, said in a statement last month he’s looking for ‘good and SMART America First Republican Patriots’ to challenge Mace in her primary.” [Post And Courier, 12/26/21]
Trump Called Mace A “RINO” And A “Bad” Person. According to the Associated Press, “The focus on Mace and Rice intensified Saturday night as Trump held a rally in Florence, South Carolina, cheered their primary rivals and laced into them as being insufficiently loyal with pointed, personal attacks. ‘You currently have two atrocious RINOs, they’re bad people, in the House who went to Washington, sold you out, and partnered with the Democrats to stab the Republican Party and frankly to stab our country in the back,’ Trump said, using the acronym for ‘Republican in name only.’” [Associated Press, 3/12/22]
Trump Called Mace “Crazy” And “A Terrible Person.” According to the Associated Press, “Mace, Trump said, is ‘crazy’ and ‘a terrible person’ who ‘has no idea what she’s doing,’ drawing loud boos from the crowd. ‘Thankfully this June you have the chance to dump these grandstanding losers and replace them with two rock-solid, America first champions,’ he said.” [Associated Press, 3/12/22]
2022: Mace Won Her Primary Against Trump-Backed Challenger Katie Arrington. According to the New York Times, “Representative Nancy Mace, a Republican who clashed with former President Donald J. Trump after the Jan. 6 attack, fended off a primary challenge on Tuesday from Katie Arrington, a former state representative who had Mr. Trump’s backing. The race was called by The Associated Press. Ms. Mace played up her background as a onetime Waffle House waitress and the first woman to graduate from the Citadel, the military college of South Carolina. Billing herself as a ‘new voice’ for the Republican Party, Ms. Mace, 44, championed a range of issues in Congress, including veterans’ rights and marijuana legalization. Her Lowcountry district, which stretches along South Carolina’s southeastern coast from Charleston to just beyond Hilton Head Island, favors Republicans.” [New York Times, 6/14/22]
Arrington Called Mace A “Sellout” And Said She Was More Focused On Celebrity. According to The Hill, “In her [Arrington’s] announcement video, she said Mace ‘sold out President Trump.’ ‘Let’s be honest. Nancy Mace is a sellout. She sold out the Lowcountry. She sold out President Trump. She is more interested in becoming a mainstream media celebrity than fighting for the people she’s supposed to represent,’ Arrington said.” [The Hill, 2/9/22
2018: Mace Broke With Trump Over His Plan To Offer Oil and Gas Companies Leases To Drill A Few Miles Off The Beaches Of South Carolina. According to the Washington Post, “Like several GOP legislators who joined Democrats in stirring the crowd, Mace broke sharply with the president over his plan to offer oil and gas companies leases to drill a few miles off beaches that bring $20 billion in annual revenue to South Carolina and support 600,000 tourism jobs.” [Washington Post, 2/28/18]
Mace Argued That Oil Drilling Off The South Carolina Coast Would Hurt The Tourism Industry. According to the Washington Post, “‘Eight to 10 million tourists a year come down to Charleston. They don’t want to come to see oil drilling off the coast,’ said Mace, who represents an area that includes the city. The former military cadet laid down a gauntlet: ‘Ain’t gonna happen. Not on my watch!” [Washington Post, 2/28/18]
Mace Said She Supported Trump’s Agenda, But Would Not Agree With Him On Everything. According to the Washington Post, “The comment thread on the Facebook page filled with remarks from people who said that she was out of step, that they didn’t know she would take such a stand against a Republican agenda, that they would reconsider their support for her. Mace shrugged them off. ‘I worked for President Trump . . . in several states. I support his agenda,’ she said. ‘But that doesn’t mean like a blind sheep I will agree with everything. I represent the Charleston area.’” [Washington Post, 2/28/18]
2020: Trump Reversed His Plans To Increase Offshore Drilling. According to the Associated Press, “President Donald Trump expanded a ban on new offshore drilling Tuesday, an election-year reversal likely to appeal to voters in Florida and other coastal states. Two years ago, Trump had taken steps to vastly expand offshore drilling from coast to coast. ‘This protects your beautiful gulf and your beautiful ocean, and it will for a long time to come,’ Trump said as he announced the expanded drilling ban during an appearance at the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse. The president signed a memorandum instructing the interior secretary to prohibit drilling in the waters off both Florida coasts, and off the coasts of Georgia and South Carolina for a period of 10 years — from July 1, 2022, to June 20, 2032.” [Associated Press, 9/8/20]