In February 2022, words like “pathetic” and “groveling” were used to describe Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina when she praised former President Donald Trump’s policies in a video made in front of Trump Tower in Manhattan. The conservative GOP congresswoman, facing an aggressive primary challenge from far-right Katie Arrington, was hoping to get back in Trump’s good graces after criticizing him for the January 6, 2021 insurrection. And The Bulwark’s Bill Kristol was among the Never Trump conservatives who called out the video as “pathetic.”
Trump and other MAGA Republicans have repeatedly attacked Mace as a RINO (Republican In Name Only). Regardless, Mace defeated Arrington by 8 percent in that GOP primary and went on to defeat Democrat Annie Andrews by 14 percent in the general election.
Now serving a second term in the U.S. House of Representatives, Mace continues to draw criticism from MAGA members of Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s caucus who believe she isn’t far enough to the right. And Mace, interviewed by Axios in late January, discussed the flak she has been getting from them.
The 45-year-old congresswoman told Axios, “I’ve been called to the principal’s office quite a lot. Sometimes, it’s the vice principal’s office. And I got called to the principal’s office this week.”
Although generally right-wing in her views, Mace has done a lot of things to upset the MAGA crowd — from clashing with far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia to being honest enough to admit that the abortion issue hurt Republicans in the 2022 midterms. On top of those things, Mace has opposed MAGA efforts to remove Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, a left-wing Democrat, from the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Mace told Axios, “The infighting we have going on — I mean, we have a vote today about ousting a member of Congress from their committee. We are just delaying and distracting from what we should be working on. We’re distracted by partisanship and politics right now.”
The South Carolina Republican said that “a lot of people” in her party have contacted her about her position on Omar, but she isn’t budging. “I don't care how much pressure people put on me,” Mace told Axios.
