'Swift and severe': MAGA lawmaker says she's suing airport after profane public freakout

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) announced Wednesday that she intends on launching a defamation lawsuit against the Charleston International Airport and American Airlines following her curse-filled outburst last week over the airport’s security measures.

“I've retained an attorney to take swift and severe legal action against American Airlines and the Charleston Airport following allegations they falsified incident report(s) to defame me,” Mace wrote in a social media post on X Wednesday. “SUING FOR DEFAMATION!! Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

Mace reportedly berated police officers and unpaid TSA agents last week when arriving at the Charleston International Airport over what she alleged was a lapse in security protocols; she claimed to have not been met with a security escort when arriving. However, Wired reported that Mace had failed to arrive at the airport at the correct time and entrance that she had communicated she would, and in a different vehicle, leading to the lapse in security.

Mace has since declared war on the airport and its security staff, pledging to release video and audio to prove her account of events as being correct, and on Wednesday, escalated that war further by revealing she had retained Larry Klayman – founder of Judicial Watch and Freedom Watch – as her legal counsel.

"We believe Congresswoman Nancy Mace has been subjected to a calculated and coordinated effort to malign her character through deliberately falsified documentation," Klayman said in a statement released by Mace. "No American, let alone a sitting member of Congress, should be subjected to institutional misconduct and defamation of this nature. We intend to hold all those fully accountable for their actions."

Furthermore, Mace said that she would seek damages for defamation, which she alleged had caused her “reputational harm,” and named the targets of her lawsuit, which include an unnamed “American Airlines gate agent,” South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, and three police officers.