The reported 'get punched in the face' account (Jan. 6, 2021)
Former aides told The Washington Post and The Daily Beast in January 2024 that, while sheltering during the Capitol riot, Mace wanted to leave and 'get punched in the face' by rioters for media attention and to become the face of anti-Trump Republicans. Mace dismissed the reporting; the account rests on anonymous former staffers.
The Young Turks' January 25, 2024 report on the Washington Post and Daily Beast accounts of Mace's remarks during the Capitol riot.
The account first surfaced in The Washington Post on January 24, 2024, as part of its reporting on Republicans who had once condemned Donald Trump and were now moving to endorse him.
According to the Post, as a mob attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, Rep. Nancy Mace, sheltering in her Cannon office with staff, discussed leaving to confront the rioters so she could be filmed being attacked. Citing former staffers who spoke on condition of anonymity "out of fear of retribution," the paper reported that Mace was furious at Trump for inciting the riot and believed video of a violent altercation would "give credence to her anti-Trump position" and make her the face of anti-Trump Republicans. Her aides, the account says, talked her out of it.
The Daily Beast, which reported the same account citing three people who said they heard the remarks firsthand, quoted one former aide:
"She literally begged us to let her leave the office and head to the floor so she could 'get punched in the face' and 'get media attention.' That's word for word what she requested."
Mace dismissed the reporting. Asked about the account by The Washington Post, she replied: "What you write doesn't pass for real journalism."
The account rests entirely on anonymous former staffers; Mace has not confirmed it and has rejected it. Her on-the-record statements in the days that followed the riot were, however, sharply critical of Trump: she said the riot had "entirely wiped out" every Republican accomplishment of his presidency, called the rioters "domestic terrorists," and told Fox News she did not know "how you go forward and defend the indefensible", before reconciling with him and, in 2024, endorsing him and branding herself "Trump in high heels." Those documented statements are gathered below.
The "get punched in the face" line is a quote attributed to Mace by former aides through The Washington Post and The Daily Beast, not a statement Mace has made on the record, and she disputes the reporting. Her contemporaneous, on-the-record criticism of Trump is documented separately.
Sources. The Washington Post (Jan. 24, 2024, original report) | The Daily Beast | HuffPost | MS NOW / Maddow blog | Alternet
On the Record
Mace says Trump's legacy 'entirely wiped out' the day after the Capitol attack
The day after the January 6 Capitol attack, Mace told a local TV station that the riot had erased everything Republicans had accomplished under President Trump.
Mace tweets Capitol rioters were 'domestic terrorists' and calls on GOP to stop 'coddling extremists'
Four days after the January 6 Capitol attack, Mace posted on Twitter that the rioters who assaulted police were domestic terrorists and urged her party to rebuild around respect for rule of law.
Mace says on Fox News she does not know 'how you go forward and defend the indefensible' and Trump has no future in the GOP
One week after the Capitol attack, Mace told Fox News that Trump had no future in the Republican Party and that his principles would have to be championed without his name or brand.
Mace asks on Meet the Press: 'how do we hold a president accountable that put all of our lives at risk?'
Eleven days after the Capitol attack, Mace appeared on NBC's Meet the Press and questioned how Congress could hold the president accountable for the January 6 riot.
Mace tells CBS News while sheltering during Capitol breach: 'I'm begging the president to get off Twitter'
While sheltering in place during the January 6 Capitol breach, Mace told CBS News she was begging President Trump to stop posting on Twitter.