'National Nancy' Mace’s top priority is no one but herself: ex-staffers

02 November 2023

After Rep. Nancy Mace (R-South Carolina) was first sworn into Congress in January 2021, she had an ugly feud with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia). The fact that Greene hated her so vehemently gave Mace a reputation for being a more traditional conservative rather than a far-right MAGA extremist —at least in 2021.

But Mace, since then, has a shown a willingness to engage in performative stunts to avoid being an outsider with the MAGA crowd — for example, filming a groveling video in front of Trump Tower during her reelection campaign in 2022.

In an article published on November 2, the Daily Beast's Jake Lahut paints a picture of "National Nancy" (Mace's name for herself) as a self-involved, self-aggrandizing lawmaker who has a lot more ambition than integrity.

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"Today, it's fair to say Mace has indeed gone national," Lahut reports. "Her decision to join with seven other far-right GOP lawmakers to boot (former House Speaker Kevin) McCarthy, and literally wear a scarlet letter after doing so, instantly earned her a mix of scorn, outrage, curiosity, and bemusement on a national scale. For Mace, though, what seems to matter most isn't what kind of attention she gets — just that she's at the center of it."

The Daily Beast, according to Lahut, has obtained a copy of an "internal handbook" for Mace's staff. That memo and interviews with "three former Mace aids," Lahut says, depict a "politician obsessed with her public image and fixated on winning herself as much exposure as possible, often to the dismay of her staff."

Mace, according to Lahut, has had a "relentless focus on PR and media" and expects her staff to send out at least one press release per day.

A former Mace staffer, interviewed on condition of anonymity, told the Beast, "It is not normal for a member to prioritize media and comms over actual legislation like that. In my experience with and in other offices, comms serves to promote what the member is doing legislatively. In Mace's office, legislation served to get her more media opportunities."

Another ex-Mace staffer told the Beast that when she voted to oust McCarthy as speaker, her sole motivation was getting herself publicity. Mace claimed that she voted out of conscience because McCarthy wasn't living up to the promises he had made, but according to the interviewee, Mace "saw the votes on the board and said, 'F*** it, I'm just gonna vote for it just so I can go on TV and talk about it.'"

Read the Daily Beast's full report at this link (subscription required).

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