The CNN NewsNight clash over Kamala Harris

On the night of August 15, 2024, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) sat on the panel of CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip, alongside the Vanderbilt professor Michael Eric Dyson and the Democratic strategist Keith Boykin. The "State of the Race" segment produced three flashpoints in a matter of minutes. The clip below was posted that night by Acyn, who captioned it "Wow this is one of the most embarrassing moments I have ever seen from Nancy Mace."

Wow this is one of the most embarrassing moments I have ever seen from Nancy Mace

Acyn (@Acyn) August 16, 2024

The August 15, 2024 CNN NewsNight clip, as posted by Acyn. The footage is CNN's; it plays from X's own player.

"I would not say it"

At the National Association of Black Journalists convention two weeks earlier, on July 31, 2024, Trump had questioned Harris's racial identity, saying, as was widely reported, that she "happened to turn Black." Abby Phillip asked Mace whether Trump should stop. Mace would not answer:

"Well, I mean, I didn't hear him say it. I didn't hear what he said about her race. I am not going to weigh in on her race."

Phillip pressed the point, noting the low bar: "This doesn't take that much courage, honestly, to just say that was out of bounds." Mace held her ground, "I don't know what he said. I didn't see it," and then made the refusal explicit:

"I mean, I didn't say it, and I would not say it."

Boykin offered the easiest exit, repeating "Just say yes. Just say yes," and, when she would not, telling her she was in "a cult." The full account is its own dispatch: Asked on CNN to call Trump's "she turned Black" attack on Harris out of bounds, Mace says "I would not say it."

"Any way that I want to"

Earlier in the same panel, Mace repeatedly mispronounced Harris's first name, and when the other guests corrected her, she dug in:

"I will say Kamala's name any way that I want to."

Dyson told her on air that the disrespect reflected "the history and legacy of White disregard for the humanity of Black people," and Mace shot back, "Oh, so now you're calling me racist." HuffPost, under the headline "Nancy Mace Claims Kamala Harris 'Doesn't Know What A Woman Is' In Train Wreck CNN Appearance," reported that Mace also said during the segment that Harris "doesn't know what a woman is."

The sequel

The clash did not end on air. A little over a month later, on September 19, 2024, Mace used a House Oversight Committee hearing to read into the official record a text she said Dyson sent her afterward, "Shh don't tell anybody. We look good together," with a kissy emoji. Dyson said the texts were a joke and called Mace "a bigot and racist." That episode has its own hub: The Michael Eric Dyson "we look good together" texts.

In her own words, readers can judge.

Sources & related coverage

• The clip: Acyn on X (August 16, 2024)
• Lead reporting: Mediaite, "'Doesn't Take That Much Courage!' CNN's Abby Phillip Stunned Mace Refuses To Denounce Trump Race Attacks on Kamala Harris"
• HuffPost, "Nancy Mace Claims Kamala Harris 'Doesn't Know What A Woman Is' In Train Wreck CNN Appearance"
• The Hill, "Nancy Mace's mispronunciation of Kamala Harris's name sparks argument on CNN"
• Raw Story, "'You are intending that I am racist!' Chaos erupts on CNN between Republican and professor"

This incident concerns public, on-record statements only: Mace's words on a live CNN broadcast, quoted verbatim from the footage and from contemporaneous reporting. It takes no position on the merits of the panel's characterizations.