Nancy Mace, Then and Now

"I do not. I don't know how you go forward and defend the indefensible."

That is Rep. Nancy Mace on Fox News, Jan. 13, 2021, answering a host who asked whether President Trump has a future in the Republican Party. She entered Congress that month and leaves it in January 2027. This page sets what she said early in her career beside what she said later, on the same subjects, as dated, attributed quotes. Where she has explained a change, her explanation is here in her words.

Credits. Footage and audio: Fox News; Fox Business (via Raw Story); PBS NewsHour; ABC News; MSNBC (All In with Chris Hayes); Forbes Breaking News; CBS News (including The Takeout and Face the Nation); NewsNation (On Balance, Cuomo, NewsNation Live); The Tara Palmeri Show; CNN (The Situation Room, CNN This Morning, CNN Newsroom and Omar Jimenez); The Daily Show; The Hill; Piers Morgan Uncensored; Newsmax; Get Maced with Nancy Mace; WCBD News 2; C-SPAN; WTOC; Live 5 News; WYFF News 4; House Oversight; Vigilant News; and Rep. Mace's own X posts and videos. All footage belongs to the outlets and creators credited. Narration is an AI voice.

The full documentary

The full documentary is on the Maceopedia YouTube channel; a link to the video is added to this page after its release. The Short plays above. This page is the written record of what the film shows.

Chapter 1: The independent voice

THEN. CBS News, March 2, 2021: "this lack of communication, the lack of working together, the lack of progress has really divided our country. And I'm willing to work with anyone who's literally willing to work with me on either side of the aisle."

The Daily Show, Oct. 30, 2023: "I'm not your typical Republican. I would say not typical conservative, because when I agree with my party I support them. When I disagree, I call my party out, and I do it over and over and over again." And: "And I buck the party line a lot when it's the right thing to do. And I come from a very independent-leaning district. It's not the same low country that you and I grew up in. It's very purple."

CBS News, Face the Nation, Oct. 8, 2023: "as an independent voice, I will call the balls and strikes regardless of the consequences."

CNN, CNN This Morning, April 24, 2023: "I blame both sides for the situation that we're in today."

NOW. In August 2025, running for governor, she told The New York Times she was prepared to be a super MAGA governor (as shown on NewsNation). Asked what that meant on NewsNation's On Balance, Aug. 4, 2025, she said: "Well, to follow President Trump's agenda."

NewsNation, On Balance, July 10, 2026: "First of all, I want to say the Trump administration is the most transparent administration in American history."

Chapter 2: Donald Trump

THEN. January 6, 2021, three days after she was sworn in, a mob attacked the Capitol. A week later the House voted to impeach President Trump. Mace voted no.

Fox News, Jan. 13, 2021: "I do not. I don't know how you go forward and defend the indefensible." Same interview: "And I believe that every accomplishment that Republicans and the president had, and I was a big supporter of the president over the last four years and worked for him on his campaign, but I believe that those accomplishments were wiped out."

On the House floor, Jan. 13, 2021 (PBS NewsHour): "I believe we need to hold the president accountable. I hold him accountable for the events that transpired for the attack on our Capitol last Wednesday."

ABC News, Jan. 12, 2021: "Well, I don't think he runs again in 2024, but he only has one week left."

In February 2022 Trump endorsed a Republican challenger against her. The next day she filmed a video outside Trump Tower, as aired on MSNBC's All In with Chris Hayes: "I'm in front of Trump Tower today. And I remember in 2015 when President Trump announced his run, I was one of his earliest supporters. I supported him again in 2020 because of policies I believed in."

At a rally in Florence, South Carolina, March 12, 2022 (Forbes Breaking News), Trump said of her: "Two years ago, she begged for my endorsement." Those are Trump's words, not Mace's.

She won her primary that June. In January 2024 she endorsed Trump over Nikki Haley.

NOW. At the Republican National Convention, July 17, 2024 (PBS NewsHour): "And I know a strong leader when I see one. Donald Trump stood up to China before, and he will do it again." Later in the speech: "and God bless Donald J. Trump."

CBS News, Myrtle Beach town hall, Aug. 6, 2025: "I want to take what's broken in South Carolina and I want to burn it down to the ground and build it right back up right where it needs to be. I am Trump in high heels. I love what I'm doing. I'm following his lead because he set a good example."

On May 29, 2026, Mace posted that her rival for governor, Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette, was not endorsed by Trump. That afternoon Trump endorsed Evette. That evening Mace posted on X: "I have enormous respect for President Trump and everything he has done for our country and for South Carolina. That respect is genuine and it is unchanged."

She finished fifth in the June 9, 2026 Republican primary for governor (Associated Press, June 10, 2026). On June 11, 2026 she posted on X: "People keep asking me: "Will you get revenge on Trump for ending your political career?" The answer is yes. I'll be adding to the unemployment number in January."

NewsNation, Cuomo, July 13, 2026, asked about her break with Trump over the Epstein files: "It may have ended my political career, Chris. I mean, that's the calculation that when I take votes. And let's be honest, I didn't go to Washington to take orders from anybody, which is why you do see me scuffle from time to time, which is why I do call out Democrats and Republicans alike."

CNN, The Situation Room, Sept. 1, 2026, on the war with Iran: "The grace period is over. We have offered past presidents just over 90 days to come to Congress to declare war or end it. And that needs to happen sooner rather than later so that we can adhere to the War Powers Act. That's what needs to happen. And if the War Powers Act were to come up today, I would vote for it."

Her explanation. Asked by Tara Palmeri whether Trump is a good man, she said on The Tara Palmeri Show (published Aug. 30, 2026): "I think so. I think he's got it in his heart. I obviously, I don't like what he did in the governor's race. As soon as he jumped in, I, my race completely tanked. Uh, we went from the top of the list down to the bottom in a matter of days."

Chapter 3: Muslims and Ilhan Omar

THEN. November 2021. Rep. Lauren Boebert had made a remark about Rep. Ilhan Omar's religion, and then apologized for it. Mace was asked about it.

In a video posted by The Hill on X, Nov. 29, 2021: "I have time after time condemned my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for racist tropes and remarks that I find disgusting," and: "we have a responsibility to lower the temperature, and this does not do that."

Fox Business, Nov. 30, 2021 (clip via Raw Story): "There's no room in our party or the Democratic party for racist tropes, for Islamophobia."

The same day she posted on X: "What I'm not is a religious bigot (or racist)."

On April 13, 2021, from her official account: "Ramadan Mubarak to all Muslim Americans beginning their fast today! #RamadanKareem"

NOW. On Sept. 15, 2025, Mace filed a resolution to censure Omar over her remarks after the killing of Charlie Kirk. That night she recorded a video at Omar's office door and posted it on X: "You can take your Sharia-loving, anti-American self back to Somalia."

CNN, CNN Newsroom, Aug. 9, 2026 (posted by Omar Jimenez on X). Jimenez pressed her on her posts about Muslims in public office. The words below begin the clip used in the film; the words before them are not quoted here. "Go back to that country of origin. It doesn't need to be here."

The same day, answering Rep. Pramila Jayapal, who had asked Republicans to denounce Islamophobia, she posted on X: "She's right. I don't want to get stabbed or blown up by a suicide bomber - nor do I want to hear the call to prayer five times a day in the United States of America. Total Islamaphobe here."

Fair context. In March 2026, days into the American strikes on Iran, Omar had criticized the timing, during Ramadan. A Newsmax host asked Mace about it. Newsmax (published March 2, 2026 on her YouTube channel): "Well, I don't give a damn if it's Ramadan. I don't care if Muslims are fasting right now. This was the right time with the right intel, the right president to go in there and do this." The line answered a question about the timing of the strikes.

Her explanation. In September 2026, on Piers Morgan Uncensored (Sept. 17, 2026), the journalist Mehdi Hasan put her 2021 words to her. Her answer: "Well, I was defending someone's First Amendment right to wear whatever piece of clothing they want to wear. Same thing with the words that you speak. Everyone has the First Amendment right to say what they want to say or wear what they want to wear."

Chapter 4: Gay and transgender Americans

THEN. May 2023. Major Garrett of CBS News asked her about transgender rights. On The Takeout, May 21, 2023: "Well I'm pro transgender rights, pro LGBTQ. Just don't go to the extreme with our kids." And: "Now, if they want to take on a different pronoun or a different gender identity or grow their hair out or wear a dress or wear pants or do those things as a minor, those are all things that I think most people would support. Be who you want to be but don't make those permanent changes when it's a child."

Fair context. Even in 2023 she opposed permanent medical changes for minors, as the last sentence of that answer shows. That position is not new.

NOW. In February 2025, at a House Oversight hearing, Rep. Gerry Connolly objected to the word she used for transgender people. She answered him (Forbes Breaking News, Feb. 2025): "Mr. Chairman, I'm not going to be counseled by a man over men and women's spaces or men who have mental health issues dressing as women. I'm not being counseled by some guy over there."

Get Maced with Nancy Mace, Sept. 25, 2026, about Rep. Sarah McBride: "And I'm just going to blanket diagnose everyone, every man who thinks he's a woman has a mental issue. They've got, they've got mental illness. There used to be hospitals for this."

Marriage. On July 19, 2022, Mace voted Yea on the Respect for Marriage Act (House Clerk, Roll 373). On Dec. 8, 2022 she voted Yea again (Roll 513). The day of the first vote she posted on X: "We just passed the Respect for Marriage Act out of the House. I'm a big fan of marriage, having done it a few times. And If gay couples want to be as happily or miserably married as straight couples, more power to them. Trust me on this."

On April 19, 2025, in a store in Mount Pleasant, she argued with a constituent and posted the video herself on X. In it she said: "And by the way, I voted for gay marriage twice."

In October 2025, campaigning for governor, she posted on X (Oct. 28, 2025): "Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve."

Chapter 5: Friends and enemies

Kevin McCarthy. McCarthy campaigned for her in November 2022 (WCBD News 2, Nov. 5, 2022). In January 2023 she voted for him for Speaker (House Clerk, Rolls 2 and 15). On Oct. 3, 2023 she voted Yea on H.Res. 757 (Roll 519), one of eight Republicans who voted to remove him. The next day, on C-SPAN, Oct. 4, 2023, she explained: "I've made deals with Kevin McCarthy with the speaker that he has not kept to help women in this country. And we have done nothing for them. And I come from South Carolina. When you shake my hand and you make a promise and you don't keep it there are consequences to those actions."

Alan Wilson. Wilson is South Carolina's attorney general. In early 2025, in speeches on the House floor, Mace accused him of failing to protect women and girls. House floor, Feb. 11, 2025: "South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, you're not a real man because real men, real men protect women." House floor, March 4, 2025: "So Attorney General Alan Wilson, I hope you have your number two pencil out. And I hope you're taking notes. And I hope that pencil is sharpened. Because once I get my teeth stuck in you. I am not letting go."

Wilson's side. Live 5 News (WCSC), Oct. 8, 2025: "The Attorney General's office disputes the claim and says Mace's data is wrong."

NOW. C-SPAN, primary night, June 9, 2026: "Tonight, I want you to know that I'm going to endorse Alan Wilson for governor. I want a law and order governor, and that law and order governor is going to be Alan Wilson." WTOC, concession speech, June 9, 2026: "Alan Wilson and I have had our differences, but what many of you do not know is that over the last couple of weeks, Alan Wilson and I have buried the hatchet. We called it hashtag reset."

Lauren Boebert. Back to November 2021, in the video posted by The Hill on X, Nov. 29, 2021: "I didn't come to Congress to throw bombs on Twitter, to raise, take advantage of people by saying crazy things, to raise money, or to be a comedian. I'll leave comedy to Dave Chappelle." On Get Maced with Nancy Mace, Sept. 21, 2026: "And Lauren Boebert, by the way, God bless her for all of her faults. I love her to death though." And: "So she's, she's one of the, one of us, and I will help her until my dying breath."

Her explanation. Her reason: Boebert was one of four Republicans who signed the discharge petition for the Epstein files. Mace was another. On X, Feb. 13, 2026: "The friendliest reminder: You are reading the Epstein files, and watching prominent people resign for their connections to Epstein because four brave Republicans broke rank. No regrets. Never looking back."

Marjorie Taylor Greene. In 2021, Fox Business (Nov. 30, 2021) asked whether she took back calling Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene crazy. She answered: "Absolutely not. No. She's crazy. She's insane. She's bad for the party." On X, Jan. 14, 2025: "Another strong, conservative woman. @RepMTG Let's fire up @DOGE and MAGA!"

Chapter 6: In her own words

Some of what she said fits no pair.

House Oversight hearing on UAPs, Nov. 13, 2024: "Representative Luna just told me, if I say Immaculate Constellation, I'll be on some list. Uh, maybe a FISA warrant, so come at me, bro, I guess."

NewsNation, On Balance, July 10, 2026: "I mean, I have seen certain objects, Leland, in a SCIF that I can't discuss that I would really like the American people to see, number one."

WYFF News 4, July 20, 2026: "I'm even going to shitpost from time to time because someone has to call out the dumbasses."

NewsNation Live, Aug. 30, 2026, on tattoos: "And, Yeah, I have a few tattoos. I probably, I might have more than nine as what's been publicly reported."

Chapter 7: Who she says she is

The Tara Palmeri Show (published Aug. 30, 2026), asked in August 2026 after the primary to describe herself: "but I'm definitely the anti-establishment machine. I'm the anti-swamp. I'm the anti, all of that. I always have been, I haven't changed, um, and would do everything I've done. I would do it all over again."

The record, side by side: in January 2021 she said Trump's accomplishments were wiped out; in July 2024 she praised him from the convention stage. In 2021 she said there was no room for Islamophobia in either party; in August 2026 she posted "Total Islamaphobe here." In 2023 she called herself pro transgender rights; she voted twice for the Respect for Marriage Act and in October 2025 posted "Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve." She says she has not changed. She leaves Congress in January 2027.

Official record

• Respect for Marriage Act, House Clerk roll call 373, July 19, 2022: Mace, Yea.
• Respect for Marriage Act, House Clerk roll call 513, Dec. 8, 2022: Mace, Yea.
• Election of the Speaker, January 2023, House Clerk roll calls 2 and 15: Mace voted for Kevin McCarthy.
• H.Res. 757, House Clerk roll call 519, Oct. 3, 2023: Mace, Yea.

Sources and related coverage

Video, audio and posts used in the documentary:

• Fox News, Jan. 13, 2021: Source
• PBS NewsHour, Republican National Convention, July 17, 2024: YouTube
• PBS NewsHour, U.S. House floor, Jan. 13, 2021: YouTube
• ABC News, Jan. 12, 2021: YouTube
• Her own video, as aired on MSNBC, All In with Chris Hayes, Feb. 2022: YouTube
• Forbes Breaking News, Trump rally in Florence, S.C., March 12, 2022: YouTube
• CBS News, Myrtle Beach town hall, Aug. 6, 2025: YouTube
• NewsNation, On Balance, Aug. 4, 2025: YouTube
• NewsNation, Cuomo, July 13, 2026: YouTube
• The Tara Palmeri Show, published Aug. 30, 2026: YouTube
• CNN, The Situation Room, Sept. 1, 2026: Source
• CBS News, March 2, 2021: YouTube
• The Daily Show, Oct. 30, 2023: YouTube
• CBS News, Face the Nation, Oct. 8, 2023: YouTube
• CNN This Morning, April 24, 2023: YouTube
• NewsNation, On Balance, July 10, 2026: YouTube
• Fox Business, Nov. 30, 2021 (clip via Raw Story): YouTube
• Video posted by The Hill (@thehill) on X, Nov. 29, 2021: X
• Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) on X, Sept. 15, 2025: X
• CNN Newsroom, Aug. 9, 2026 (posted by Omar Jimenez on X): X
• Piers Morgan Uncensored, Sept. 17, 2026: YouTube
• Newsmax, published March 2, 2026 on her YouTube channel: YouTube
• Get Maced with Nancy Mace, Sept. 21, 2026: YouTube
• CBS News, The Takeout with Major Garrett, May 21, 2023: Source
• Get Maced with Nancy Mace, Sept. 25, 2026: YouTube
• Forbes Breaking News, House Oversight Committee hearing, Feb. 2025: YouTube
• Nancy Mace (@NancyMace) on X, April 19, 2025: X
• WCBD News 2, Nov. 5, 2022: YouTube
• C-SPAN, U.S. Capitol, Oct. 4, 2023: YouTube
• House floor speech, upload by Vigilant News, Feb. 11, 2025: YouTube
• House floor speech, posted on her YouTube channel, March 4, 2025: YouTube
• Live 5 News (WCSC), Oct. 8, 2025: YouTube
• C-SPAN, primary night, June 9, 2026: YouTube
• WTOC, concession speech, June 9, 2026: YouTube
• House Oversight hearing on UAPs, Nov. 13, 2024: YouTube
• WYFF News 4, July 20, 2026: YouTube
• NewsNation Live, Aug. 30, 2026: YouTube
• Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) on X, April 13, 2021: X
• Nancy Mace (@NancyMace) on X, Nov. 30, 2021: X
• Nancy Mace (@NancyMace) on X, July 19, 2022: X
• Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) on X, Jan. 14, 2025: X
• Nancy Mace (@NancyMace) on X, Oct. 28, 2025: X
• Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) on X, Feb. 13, 2026: X
• Nancy Mace (@NancyMace) on X, May 29, 2026: X
• Nancy Mace (@NancyMace) on X, June 11, 2026: X
• Nancy Mace (@NancyMace) on X, Aug. 9, 2026: X

Official record:

• House Clerk roll call votes