Part of: January 6 & the Trump Relationship
Kevin McCarthy says Mace was not in the running for Trump's endorsement
On Fox News' Sunday Night in America, former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy rejected the premise that Donald Trump had snubbed Nancy Mace by endorsing another candidate in South Carolina's 2026 Republican gubernatorial primary. McCarthy told Trey Gowdy that Trump had been looking at the attorney general and lieutenant governor, criticized Mace's truthfulness, placed her around fifth, and said she was not in the running for the endorsement. Fox later posted the clip behind its FOX One subscription roadblock, and Internet Archive's TV News capture preserves the broadcast transcript around 6:19-6:20 p.m. PDT.
On June 7, 2026, former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy appeared on Fox News' Sunday Night in America with Trey Gowdy and rejected the premise that Donald Trump had snubbed Nancy Mace by endorsing another candidate in the South Carolina Republican gubernatorial primary.
Reporting credit: The clip was posted by Fox. The no-login transcript source is Internet Archive's TV News capture of the full June 7 broadcast.
The Fox clip page identifies the segment as "McCarthy dismisses Nancy Mace's claim of Trump's endorsement snub", aired on Fox News Channel on June 8, 2026, with a runtime of 1 minute and 1 second. The page is publicly visible, but playback is behind a FOX One subscription roadblock.
Fox's own public description says Trey Gowdy asked McCarthy about reports that Trump had snubbed Mace in the endorsement fight. The description says McCarthy responded that Mace was not in contention for the endorsement, citing her past actions and other stronger South Carolina candidates.
The Broadcast Record
Broadcast still from Internet Archive's TV News capture of Fox News' June 7, 2026 airing. The McCarthy segment appears around the 6:19-6:20 p.m. PDT transcript marks.
Internet Archive's transcript for the 6:00 p.m. PDT airing places the relevant exchange at about 6:19-6:20 p.m. PDT. In the captions, Gowdy asks McCarthy about stories saying Trump had snubbed Mace. McCarthy answers that the race was not between Mace and Pamela Evette, says Trump had been looking at South Carolina's attorney general and lieutenant governor, and adds that Mace was around fifth place in the field.
The key line preserved in the caption record is McCarthy's closing assessment: "Mace was never in the running to begin with."
Transcript Note
Maceopedia is not reproducing the full Fox segment transcript verbatim because the clip and captions are copyrighted broadcast material. The public record is still preserved in two places:
- Fox clip page: identifies the clip, title, runtime, air date, and subscription status.
- Internet Archive TV News page: provides a no-login, rough closed-caption transcript for the full broadcast, with the McCarthy-Mace exchange visible around the 6:19-6:20 p.m. PDT marks.
The relevant transcript substance is: Gowdy raised reports that Trump had snubbed Mace in South Carolina's gubernatorial endorsement fight. McCarthy disputed that premise, said Trump had been considering other candidates, criticized Mace's truthfulness, described her as being around fifth place, and said she had not been in contention for the endorsement.
Why It Matters
McCarthy's June 7 comments connect back to the October 2023 House speakership fight, when Mace joined seven other Republicans and House Democrats to remove him as Speaker. The two have been public adversaries since that vote. This Fox exchange adds a later campaign-record artifact: McCarthy publicly framed Mace's lack of Trump endorsement as a function of her standing in the race and Trump's preference for other South Carolina candidates, not as a late snub.
The statement came just before South Carolina's June 9, 2026 Republican gubernatorial primary, where Mace finished outside the top tier of candidates.
Sources and Related Coverage
- Fox, "McCarthy dismisses Nancy Mace's claim of Trump's endorsement snub" (clip page, aired June 8, 2026)
- Internet Archive TV News, Sunday Night in America with Trey Gowdy, Fox News, June 7, 2026, 6:00 p.m. PDT (caption transcript at about 6:19-6:20 p.m. PDT)
- Internet Archive TV News, repeat airing, Fox News, June 7, 2026, 9:00 p.m. PDT
- Maceopedia, Kevin McCarthy
- Maceopedia, Mace defends her vote to remove McCarthy: "This is about trust"
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