Nancy Mace 'literally begged' to 'get punched in the face' for 'media attention' on Jan. 6: ex-aide

When Rep. Nancy Mace (R-South Carolina) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) were having a bitter feud in 2021, many media reports described the conflict as a battle between a hyper-MAGA Donald Trump loyalist (Greene) and a more traditional conservative (Mace).

But Mace has often demonstrated that she is willing to resort to highly performative antics in support of the MAGA movement — for example, voting to oust former Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-California) and wearing a red "A" on a t-shirt to symbolize "The Scarlet Letter" and paint herself as a martyr. Or yelling "You have no balls" at Hunter Biden during a House Oversight Committee hearing.

According to reporting in the Washington Post and the Daily Beast, Mace was hoping to be assaulted on January 6, 2021 in order to receive "media attention."

POLL: Should Trump be allowed to hold office again?

On January 24, Washington Post journalists Jacqueline Alemany, Liz Goodwin, Leigh Ann Caldwell and Marianna Sotomayor report, "Mace — who also declared to her staff during the riot that she was a 'Never Trumper' — made the comments while she was hiding with staff in her office in the Cannon House building as they watched rioters march through the Capitol on television. If there was video of her challenging rioters on social media, it could give credence to her anti-Trump position, these people said of Mace's thinking at the time. Staffers pushed back against their then-freshman boss, citing guidance from U.S. Capitol Police. Mace eventually set aside the idea, according to the people."

According to Daily Beast reporters Jake Lahut and Brett Bachman, a former Mace aide —interviewed on condition of anonymity — said, "She literally begged us to let her leave the office and head to the floor so she could 'get punched in the face' and 'get media attention.' That's word for word what she requested."

Three difference sources, Lahut and Bachman report, confirmed that "get punched in the face" were Mace's exact words on January 6, 2021.

Mace recently gave Trump's 2024 presidential campaign an enthusiastic endorsement, which, the Daily Beast journalists stress, is a major departure from the Mace of January 2021.

READ MORE: 'You have no balls': Nancy Mace launches explosive in-person attack against Hunter Biden

"Just three years later," Lahut and Bachman explain, "Mace has seemingly undergone a 180-degree turn in her feelings on Trump, endorsing the former president this week over her home-state ally Nikki Haley — who backed her most recent reelection bid while she fought off a Trump-backed opponent. As The Daily Beast reported last October, Mace has been privately suggesting to her Republican colleagues that she may have an actual shot at being Trump's vice president —despite the fact that one source close to the former president said he 'absolutely hates Nancy Mace.'"

Lahut and Bachman add, "The January 6 incident also underscores the congresswoman's thirst for the spotlight, as evidenced by a strategy memo she wrote in 2021, just after the Capitol insurrection that she repeatedly expressed had troubled her greatly. In it, she described herself as 'THE freshman thought leader on federal issues' — officially dubbing herself 'NATIONAL NANCY.'"

READ MORE: 'Toxic work environment': MAGA congresswoman loses 3 senior staff in less than a week

Read and the Daily Beast's full article at this link and the Washington Post's report here (subscription required for both articles).