Mace refuses to back Scalise for Speaker: 'I cannot, in good conscience, vote for someone who attended a white supremacist conference'
On October 11, 2023, Mace said on CNN she could not vote for Steve Scalise as House Speaker because he had spoken at an event associated with David Duke's white nationalist organization in 2002; Scalise ultimately withdrew his candidacy.
October 11, 2023
On CNN on October 11, 2023, explaining her refusal to back Steve Scalise for House Speaker following McCarthy's ouster, Mace said:
"I personally cannot, in good conscience, vote for someone who attended a white supremacist conference and compared himself to David Duke. I would be doing an enormous disservice to the voters that I represent in South Carolina if I were to do that."
Mace was referring to a 2002 incident in which Scalise had spoken at an event associated with David Duke's white nationalist organization (EURO); Scalise had apologized when the story surfaced in 2014. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene called Mace's attack "unfair and quite frankly disgusting." Scalise ultimately withdrew his candidacy.
Source: CNN / Mediaite · archived