Part of: January 6 & the Trump Relationship
'Doesn't Take That Much Courage!' CNN's Abby Phillip Stunned Mace Refuses To Denounce Trump Race Attacks on Kamala Harris
Mediaite's account of the August 15, 2024 CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip panel. Asked to say that Donald Trump's claim that Vice President Kamala Harris turned Black was out of bounds, Rep. Nancy Mace repeatedly refused, saying she had not heard the comment and would not weigh in. Host Abby Phillip told her it did not take much courage to say it was out of bounds. In the same segment Mace insisted she would say Harris's name any way that she wanted, drawing objections from Michael Eric Dyson and Keith Boykin.
Tommy Christopher ·
"This doesn't take that much courage, honestly, to just say that was out of bounds."
CNN's Abby Phillip to Rep. Nancy Mace, August 15, 2024
On the night of August 15, 2024, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) appeared on the panel of CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip alongside Vanderbilt professor Michael Eric Dyson and Democratic strategist Keith Boykin. When the conversation turned to Donald Trump's comment, made at the National Association of Black Journalists convention, questioning whether Vice President Kamala Harris is Black, Phillip asked Mace whether Trump should stop. Mace declined to answer, saying, "I didn't hear him say it," and, "I am not going to weigh in on her race." Pressed to call the remark out of bounds, she said, "I mean, I didn't say it, and I would not say it."
Earlier in the same panel, after mispronouncing Harris's first name, Mace told the other guests, "I will say Kamala's name any way that I want to," which drew a sharp exchange with Dyson over the disrespect.
Related
Read next
- August 15, 2024 · Dispatch
Asked on CNN to call Trump's "she turned Black" attack on Kamala Harris out of bounds, Mace says: "I didn't say it, and I would not say it"
On CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip on August 15, 2024, the panel pressed Rep. Nancy Mace again and again to simply say that Donald Trump's claim that Vice President Kamala Harris "turned Black" was out of bounds. Mace would not. "I didn't hear him say it," she said, then "I am not going to weigh in on her race," then "I didn't say it, and I would not say it." Host Abby Phillip: "This doesn't take that much courage, honestly, to just say that was out of bounds." In the same appearance Mace insisted she would say Harris's name "any way that I want to." The clip, posted by Acyn, was captioned "one of the most embarrassing moments I have ever seen from Nancy Mace."
June 19, 2026 · DispatchRemember when Nancy Mace read a CNN guest's "kissy emoji" text into the congressional record?
A look back. On September 19, 2024, Rep. Nancy Mace used part of a House Oversight Committee hearing to enter into the official record a screenshot of a text she said Vanderbilt professor Michael Eric Dyson sent her after they clashed on CNN: "Shh don't tell anybody. We look good together," with a kissy emoji. Dyson denied hitting on her, said it was a joke, and called Mace "a bigot and racist." The clip is circulating again. In her own words and his, readers can judge.
August 15, 2024 · DispatchMace defies CNN panel on Harris name pronunciation: 'I will say Kamala's name any way that I want to'
On August 15, 2024, Mace repeatedly mispronounced Vice President Kamala Harris's name on CNN after initially saying it correctly, then defiantly told the panel she would say it however she wanted when called out for disrespect.