Mace: "I was 16 years old and was assaulted... I am going through something similar again"

Tara Palmeri told Rep. Nancy Mace on September 1, 2026 that she believed being a survivor was "a really big part" of Mace's story, and asked how much of the person we see today was formed by what happened to her when she was younger. Mace answered: "A thousand percent." She then described realizing, once in public office, how deeply her experience of being assaulted at 16 shaped her. She said she is "going through something similar again" but did not say what she was referring to.

Mace did not name the "similar" event. She has publicly alleged she was assaulted by a former housemate in Washington, D.C., in 2023, allegations that were disputed and are connected to ongoing civil litigation. This dispatch reports her own words from the interview without attribution to either of those matters; readers should weigh the words in the context of her own stated framing.

Captioned clip from the Tara Palmeri Show, September 1, 2026. Watch the full interview on YouTube.

The exchange

The verbatim exchange, from the Tara Palmeri Show, September 1, 2026. Palmeri opens the sequence:

Palmeri: I think a really big part of your story is that you are a survivor. And I'm wondering how much of the person we see in public today was formed by what happened to you when you were younger.

Mace: A thousand percent. And I didn't really realize it until I was in public office and in the public sphere. I didn't realize how much of that, of myself, lent to when I was 16 years old and was assaulted. And then, you know, looking at it, 40-30 years later to have another traumatic event in my life. And I'm sitting here thinking, "What the hell? I am going through something similar again. And why does this keep happening?" And I would say that it did mold me into who I am. I'm a person that looks over my, I look over my shoulder. Um, I have, you know, I'm, I'm distrusting of people because you've got to prove yourself. Are you going to harm someone? Are you going to lie? Are you, you know, I'm always constantly thinking about how is this person going to hurt me? And I think it's made, you know, I've done well in business. I've done well in politics, um, except for that last race where I got my ass kicked. I've done pretty well. I'm a sitting member of Congress. That's...

Mace continued in a later part of the interview to connect this experience to her legislative mission:

Mace: I never got justice when I was 16. I never sought justice. And so being in a place of leadership and being in elected office where I could seek justice, not for myself necessarily, but for other people, women and children, specifically by the laws that I can draft, that to me has been a huge motivator in my work in public office. I've got dozens and dozens of bills relating to women and children and predators that are going after them.

Context

Mace first disclosed publicly that she was raped at 16 during her 2020 congressional campaign, making it a central part of her political identity. She has repeatedly cited it as the origin of her commitment to women's safety legislation and as the reason she pursued elected office.

In the same September 1 interview, she told Palmeri she has never gotten justice for what happened at 16 and never sought it. She described the experience as having instilled a persistent distrust: "I'm always constantly thinking about how is this person going to hurt me."

Her statement that she is "going through something similar again" and asking "why does this keep happening?" was not elaborated upon in the clip. She did not name a person, an institution, or a specific event.

Watch

The full Tara Palmeri Show interview is available on YouTube. This exchange begins at approximately 3:06:

Sources

• Tara Palmeri Show, "MACE ON BEING MACE," YouTube, September 1, 2026 (primary source; exchange at 3:06)
• The Tara Palmeri Show: tarapalmeri.com