'Performative nonsense': Republican Nancy Mace ridiculed for Scarlet Letter stunt

Republicans who sided with Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) in the effort to oust him as speaker are angry with Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) for joining the group of Republican hardliners who opposed him. Perhaps that's why she decided to wear a big red "A" on her shirt on Tuesday.

Whatever her reason, the reactions to her shirt were quick from those who said Mace was seeking attention and failing to serve as a uniter.

"The Scarlet Letter A stands for Adultery," said Ron Filipkowski, a former Republican.

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MSNBC host and legal contributor Katie Phang called the publicity stunt "performative nonsense."

"Innocent women, children, and men are being brutally murdered and terrorized, but Nancy Mace thinks this performative nonsense is the highest and best use of her time," Phang wrote Tuesday.

Dem. Rep. Jasmine Crockett also addressed the issue:

"Nancy Mace openly wore the scarlet letter on her chest & I thought she was embracing the video that’s been circulating of her, but nope, seems like she may not have known that the A stands for Adulterer… (Reading is fundamental)," she said Tuesday.

"I truly do not understand Nancy Mace," said law professor Anthony Michael Kreis.

"So she's now competing with Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert?" asked MSNBC analyst David Corn. Corn implied Mace was trying to to be Donald Trump's V.P. running mate.

"Awesome job controlling your party members @GOP. Awesome stuff here. Not to unduly interrupt their PR click nonsense, but perhaps you can choose a speaker so we can appropriate money to assist Israel and Ukraine," a Tuesday post by civil rights lawyer Andrew C. Laufer says.