Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) has spent the past several days railing against airport police officers who she alleged didn't show up to protect her when she had an early flight on Thursday.
After the "very irate" Mace shouted curse words at police and TSA agents, she began a crusade to accuse the airport of lying about the incident.
Mace didn't have her own individual security at the airport to escort her inside the security gates. Instead she depended on the local police, with whom her office was coordinating, according to text messages posted by her office.
But when they didn't turn up where she expected them, she lost it, hurling expletives and yelling at airport staff — many of who are currently working without pay due to the government shutdown.
On Monday, her GOP opponent in the state's gubernatorial race accused her of having an outright "temper tantrum."
South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson attacked his primary opponent by calling her out for her behavior at the airport, "Nancy Mace didn’t face a security issue. She threw an entitled temper tantrum after showing up late at the wrong entrance and then tried to blame officers. Threatening law enforcement for her own mistake is disgraceful. She owes them an apology."
Others pointed out how "privileged" Mace appeared at a time when SNAP benefits have been cut, the economy is faltering, and TSA agents at airports aren't being paid while the government is shut down.
Wilson also noted on Sunday, "Nancy Mace didn’t do what airport staff told her to do, threw a tantrum and called unpaid TSA agents and law enforcement (expletive) incompetent, and now she is saying she’s going to fire them if she becomes Governor. She is dangerous, reckless, and will use her position to come after her enemies—just like Democrats do. Next time she claims she supports law enforcement, don’t believe her."
"Not only did Republicans shut down the government and force 52,000 TSA officers to work without pay — now their deranged members are screaming at them in airports. Nancy Mace didn’t have an “interaction.” She threw a tantrum at unpaid workers just trying to do their jobs," wrote the House Homeland Security Committee Democrats account on X.
"Nancy Mace had yet another bizarre meltdown, this time in an airport where she yelled at TSA agents who aren’t even getting paid, due to a shutdown she’s partially responsible for, then justified it on Fox News saying she doesn’t want to be assassinated. Therapy, Nancy. Try it," encouraged podcaster and independent journalist Karly Kingsley.
"FWIW, when you talk to Democrats about MTG, Lauren Boebert or any of the other MAGA crew, they obviously find them horrible and bad. But when you talk to them about Nancy Mace, there's almost a level of pity. Ilhan Omar told me "I hope she does get the help she needs,'" The Independent's Washington, D.C. bureau chief Eric Michael Garcia wrote on X.
Writer Paul Rudnick posted a photo of a raccoon with a gaping mouth, noting it was an "authenticated photo of Nancy Mace shrieking curses at police officers she'd demanded escort her to a flight at the Charleston airport."
Republican strategist Wesley Donehue wrote on X, "Nancy Mace just now on Fox Business. WOW! This is what she does. Every single time. ... She's the worst human I know."