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"You're Fired When I'm Governor": The Airport CEO Kept His Job. Nancy Mace Leaves Office January 3

Elliott Summey is still the CEO of Charleston International Airport. Nancy Mace leaves Congress on January 3, 2027, after finishing fifth in the June 2026 Republican primary for governor. On November 3, 2025, she told him 'you're fired when I'm governor.' 'Did I drop an F-bomb? I hope I did.' Rep. Nancy Mace, November 3, 2025, on a Charleston airport police report that says she cursed at officers and TSA staff. Thirty-six days later, CNN asked whether she said what the report quotes. 'No, I did not.' She called the report 'a hundred percent fictitious, falsified.' Attorney General Alan Wilson, whom she blamed, called that 'a categorical lie.' The report, the press conference, Sens. Tim Scott and Lindsey Graham, the threatened lawsuit, the airport's own investigation and both CNN interviews, in the words of the people who said them. No charges were filed, and the threatened suit had not been filed as of June 2026.

Elliott Summey is still the president and CEO of the Charleston County Aviation Authority, which runs Charleston International Airport. Rep. Nancy Mace leaves Congress on January 3, 2027. She ran for governor and finished fifth in the June 9, 2026 Republican primary.

On November 3, 2025, four days after the airport encounter, she said this to him from a podium on Daniel Island: "I have nothing more to say to Elliott Summey other than you're fired when I'm governor."

He kept his job. She paid the price. This is how it got there, in the words of the people who said them.

"Did I drop an F-bomb? I hope I did. Did I call them incompetent? If I didn't, they absolutely earned it."

That is Rep. Nancy Mace on Monday, November 3, 2025, at a press conference on Daniel Island, four days after an encounter at Charleston International Airport that a Charleston County Aviation Authority police report, released October 31, describes as irate and loudly cursing at officers and TSA staff. She called the report "a complete and total political hit job."

Thirty-six days later, on December 9, CNN's Kaitlan Collins read her the report's quotes and asked: "But did you say those things that I just read?" Mace: "No, I did not." She called the report "falsified," then "a hundred percent fictitious, falsified," and named Attorney General Alan Wilson, her rival for governor, as the person behind it. The next night Wilson called that "a categorical lie."

No charges were filed over the encounter, and the defamation suit her side announced on November 5 had not been filed as of June 2026.

Reporting and footage credited here: ABC News 4 (WCIV), including Webb Wright and Cameron Lime; WCBD News 2, including Emma Charles and Hannah Baker; FOX Carolina News; The Hill's Rising; Live 5 News (WCSC); News 19 WLTX; the Washington Examiner; CNN's The Source with Kaitlan Collins; Fox Business's Mornings with Maria, via The Daily Beast; and USA TODAY. Every link is in Sources & related coverage below.

A note on the film: the narration is an AI voice. Every quote on screen is verbatim from the outlet or post named, and every caption is checked against the audio. The film and this page use only broadcasts, interviews and posts. They take no side on whose account of the airport encounter is right.

The full narrated film, 14 minutes 25 seconds, plays at the top of this page and is on YouTube. The 90-second cut is below.

The 90-second short cut of the documentary. The full film runs in date order from October 30 to December 11, 2025, with a short aftermath. Video: Maceopedia, from footage credited on screen.

The full record of this incident is on the Charleston airport / TSA incident page.

Two answers, 36 days apart

Both are on the record. The film puts them in order and draws no conclusion.

  • Monday, November 3, 2025, press conference: "Did I call them incompetent? If I didn't, they absolutely earned it."
  • Tuesday, December 9, 2025, CNN: Collins read her the police report's quotes, then asked: "But did you say those things that I just read?" Mace: "No, I did not."

She also told Collins, on the same program: "Yes, I was absolutely 100% frustrated." And: "I use, I mean, I use vulgar language frequently."

Her argument about the report is on the record too: "They say a lot of things, and the video doesn't show that. There's no audio." The airport's surveillance video is silent.

Thursday, October 30, 2025: the police report

WCBD News 2's anchor, the night the report came out: "Congresswoman Nancy Mace is responding to a report released by the Charleston County Aviation Authority police. The report says Mace was making derogatory comments and irate before a flight at Charleston International Thursday morning."

FOX Carolina News on the car: "According to a police report, officers were told she would arrive in a white car, but instead, she showed up late and in a different colored car."

The Hill's Rising host read the officers' words from the report: "The report quotes one of the officers saying she immediately began loudly cursing, making derogatory comments to us about the department." Mace disputes the report's account.

Her team's statement, read by WCBD: "Apparently simply arriving at an airport now makes headlines if you're leading the race for governor." And: "Our security procedures are based solely on legitimate safety concerns and any attempt to politicize this reality is both dangerous and reckless."

CNN's report on the surveillance footage the airport released. The footage is silent. Video: CNN.

Monday, November 3, 2025: the press conference

ABC News 4's Webb Wright: "Mace did not apologize at this morning's press conference. Instead, offering up text she claims proves there was a lapse in security."

The full 33-minute livestream is below. Her words in it:

  • "Last Thursday morning, I absolutely a hundred percent confronted the airport employees who put my safety at risk. Did I drop an F-bomb? I hope I did. Did I call them incompetent? If I didn't, they absolutely earned it." (1:12)
  • "So why were these filed? This was a complete and total political hit job. And if cursing is a crime, then myself and all of you watching this morning should have been arrested a very long time ago. I am not going to apologize if there's an incompetent government employee at the airport who's expecting an apology this morning. You are not going to get it." (6:30)
  • On the car: "The airport employees said they were looking for a white vehicle. That is wrong. You'll see in the text messages that we very specifically said we would be in a gray vehicle." (13:03)
  • On airport leadership: "If the airport leadership won't protect me, they need to be replaced by individuals who will." (25:59)
  • To a reporter who asked why she would not apologize: "I have just said it till I'm blue in the face. My safety has been put at risk over 24 times at this airport. I am frustrated. I am absolutely pissed off." (27:24)
  • To the airport's CEO: "I have nothing more to say to Elliott Summey other than you're fired when I'm governor." (32:28)

The complete November 3, 2025 press conference as livestreamed by ABC News 4 (WCIV). Times in parentheses above are where each line begins. Video: ABC News 4.

The airport answered the same day. WCBD read the statement from CEO Elliott Summey: "At Charleston International Airport, the safety and security of our more than 6 million passengers, elected officials, and guests who travel through our terminal is our highest priority."

Two rivals for governor reacted. As ABC News 4's Wright reported it, Alan Wilson said it was a tantrum that proves she is dangerous, and Pam Evette said Mace cannot take responsibility for her own behavior.

Tuesday, November 4, 2025: the senators

Sen. Tim Scott and Sen. Lindsey Graham both responded in writing. Neither was filmed speaking about the incident. The film shows news broadcasts and hosts reading their posts aloud.

The police report has Mace invoking Scott's name. Live 5 News: "Reports say she called officers incompetent, even stating they'd never treat Tim Scott like this."

Scott, on Facebook, November 4, 5:12 PM, as read by The Hill's Rising host: "Those who know me know that I do not use profanity in public or private. It is never acceptable to berate police officers, airport staff, and TSA agents who are simply doing their jobs, nor is it becoming of a member of congress to use such vulgar language." His post ends, as read by WCBD, "We work for them, not vice versa."

Graham, on X, November 4, 8:07 PM, as read by the same host: "I concur with Senator Scott's statement when it comes to the men and women who provide security at the Charleston International Airport. The men and women I have encountered, from security to airport leadership, are professional and diligent in the performance of their duties, and I am honored to represent them in the U.S. Senate."

Mace answered overnight on X. As the host read her posts: "Punching down and shaming and attacking a woman with thousands of death threats is a wild take." And: "Let me say this very clearly, real men protect women." In her own video that night she said: "If you haven't already figured it out yet they're coming after me because I am sticking up and fighting for you. I'm gonna be the anti-corruption pro law and order governor. I'll also be the pro airport safety governor too."

The host's reading of the police report and the senators' posts is in The Hill's Rising segment of November 6, 2025. Linked, not embedded. Video: The Hill.

Wednesday, November 5 to Friday, November 7, 2025: the lawsuit threat

WCBD's Emma Charles: Mace "has announced she plans to file a defamation suit against American Airlines, the Charleston Airport and several other individuals, including airport CEO Elliott Summey and her opponent in the race for governor, Attorney General Alan Wilson, claiming that they falsified incident reports." A legal expert on the same broadcast: "It's easy to threaten to file a lawsuit. It's difficult for a public official to win one." Live 5 News: "The suit has not yet been filed." The Washington Examiner reported that Mace retained Larry Klayman, founder of Judicial Watch and Freedom Watch. As of June 2026, no complaint had been filed.

On November 7, ABC News 4's Cameron Lime reported that more than 50 state and local leaders had signed a letter praising airport employees and law enforcement for their professionalism.

Monday, December 8, 2025: the airport's investigation

WCBD's Hannah Baker: the airport's release "includes new surveillance footage of the entirety of Congresswoman Mace's time at the airport, from arrival to boarding the flight, as well as Charleston Airport releasing their investigation findings." One witness said the congresswoman swore at a police officer and complained of the wait. Two other witnesses reported profane language and yelling but "both noted they were unsure if it was on the phone or directed at officers."

The Charleston Airport Police Department's conclusion, as read by WCBD: "While it is clear that we hold a certain level of responsibility in miscommunicating the color of Congresswoman Mace's vehicle, it's also equally clear that her continued failure to follow established procedures at the checkpoint is what turned a minor miscommunication over the color of a vehicle into the spectacle that this issue has become for our employees and airport workers."

Mace's team, per WCBD: "Congresswoman Mace appreciates this clear exoneration and is moving forward on the campaign trail, focused on the issues that actually matter to South Carolinians, affordability and law and order."

Tuesday, December 9, 2025: CNN, The Source

Collins asked what she made of the report's finding. Mace: "Well, part of the report was actually falsified in the documents that were released by the airport yesterday."

Collins read the report's quotes back to her. Mace: "Well, you're quoting a document that was in part falsified. They say a lot of things, and the video doesn't show that. There's no audio."

  • Collins: "But did you say those things that I just read?" Mace: "No, I did not."
  • Collins: "So you're saying the police officers are lying?" Mace: "No, I'm saying that is in part false. And that is a falsified document."
  • Later, Collins: "But you're saying these police officers are lying, then, who spoke to the investigators." Mace: "I am absolutely saying that that report was falsified. A hundred percent fictitious, falsified."

Collins raised Scott's statement and asked about regret. Mace: "I use, I mean, I use vulgar language frequently. I mean, the president does, I do, I guess, because I'm a House member, just a lowly House member. I'm not allowed to do that."

Asked who was behind it, Mace: "Oh, it was the Attorney General Alan Wilson."

Wednesday, December 10, 2025: Wilson's reply

On CNN the next night, Collins told Wilson Mace had invoked him by name. Wilson called what she said "a categorical lie." He added: "It's not my fault that she showed up at the wrong location. I did not make her cuss out the men and women at the TSA and security checkpoint." On who gave statements, Wilson said: "there are half a dozen people who gave reports and statements". Collins noted: "the two of you are opponents here in this race."

The Washington Examiner's morning recap that day: Scott criticized her behavior, and Wilson called for an apology.

Thursday, December 11, 2025: Fox Business

Maria Bartiromo, Fox Business: "You say officials falsified much of a police report. What happened?" Mace: "They did file a fictitious police incident report." Later: "I expressed, you know, my frustration with it, but I didn't call anybody names. That was falsified in the police report."

What came after

No charges were filed over the airport encounter, and no lawsuit was filed as of June 2026. Mace lost the June 9, 2026 Republican primary for governor, then conceded and endorsed Wilson: "Alan Wilson and I have buried the hatchet." Her statements and the report's account remain in dispute. Nothing here is a finding of fact.

Sources & related coverage

The record of this incident: Charleston airport / TSA incident.

Original footage and reporting used in the video (all footage belongs to the outlets credited):

  • ABC News 4 (WCIV), full press conference livestream, Nov. 3, 2025: YouTube
  • ABC News 4, Webb Wright report, Nov. 3: YouTube
  • ABC News 4, Cameron Lime report on the leaders' letter, Nov. 7: YouTube
  • ABC News 4, original police-report reporting, Oct. 31: abcnews4.com
  • WCBD News 2, Oct. 31: YouTube
  • WCBD News 2, Nov. 3: YouTube
  • WCBD News 2, Nov. 5, Sen. Scott responds: YouTube
  • WCBD News 2, Nov. 5, lawsuit threat (Emma Charles): YouTube
  • WCBD News 2, Dec. 8, investigation released (Hannah Baker): YouTube
  • FOX Carolina News, Nov. 3: YouTube
  • The Hill, Rising, Nov. 6: YouTube
  • Live 5 News (WCSC), Nov. 5: YouTube and live5news.com
  • News 19 WLTX, Nov. 11: YouTube
  • Washington Examiner, Nov. 5: YouTube and Dec. 10: YouTube
  • CNN, The Source with Kaitlan Collins, Dec. 9, Mace: cnn.com
  • CNN, The Source with Kaitlan Collins, Dec. 10, Alan Wilson: cnn.com
  • CNN, surveillance video report: YouTube
  • Fox Business, Mornings with Maria, Dec. 11, via The Daily Beast: thedailybeast.com
  • USA TODAY, airport surveillance video, Dec. 9: YouTube
  • Rep. Nancy Mace on X, Nov. 4: post
  • Sen. Tim Scott, Facebook, Nov. 4: post
  • Sen. Lindsey Graham on X, Nov. 4: post

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