"It may have ended my political career": Nancy Mace to Chris Cuomo

Reported and clipped by Mediaite (Michael Luciano), from Rep. Nancy Mace's appearance on NewsNation's "CUOMO" with Chris Cuomo, which aired Monday night, July 13, 2026. The cut above is a Maceopedia edit of the career exchange; the full clip and the broader interview are embedded further down.

Two days after Sen. Lindsey Graham died and left a U.S. Senate seat open in South Carolina, Mace went on national television and did two things in the same sitting. She said out loud that Donald Trump's opposition to her may be fatal to her career, and, in an answer that started out being about ICE, she made the case that endorsements matter in South Carolina. Cuomo, for his part, told her plainly that he hopes she runs.

"It may have ended my political career"

Cuomo raised her 2026 break with Trump over the Epstein files, and asked whether it could sink a future run:

"Epstein, there was a break, and I think it was a righteous break on your behalf. But could that be enough to ruin your chances?"

Mace answered:

"It may have ended my political career, Chris."

She framed the break as a choice she made with eyes open:

"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."

Then she volunteered the most recent result herself:

"You win some, you lose some. I got my butt beat in the governor's race. Okay, so those are all things that you sort of weigh."

The sequence she is describing is on the public record: after Mace signed the discharge petition that forced a vote on releasing the Epstein files, Trump endorsed her rival Pamela Evette in the Republican primary for governor, and Mace finished fifth. She is not seeking reelection to her U.S. House seat.

The Senate seat, and an interview that kept turning into a campaign

The career remarks land against a specific calendar. Graham died Saturday, July 11, 2026. Gov. Henry McMaster, at Trump's public urging, appointed Graham's sister, Darline Graham Nordone, to hold the seat on an interim basis. State law still requires a special election: candidate filing opens July 21, the Republican special primary is set for August 11, and the special general is November 3, 2026, against Democratic nominee Dr. Annie Andrews.

Mace has been reported to be strongly considering a bid for the seat, though she has not declared. Asked directly by Cuomo whether she would run, she did not answer it. Per Mediaite's write-up of the interview, when Cuomo asked "Will you run in the special election?" Mace replied, "My focus right now is focusing on South Carolina."

Elsewhere in the same appearance, in an answer that began as a response about the recent deadly ICE shootings, Mace turned to endorsements:

"Endorsements in elections actually do matter, especially in South Carolina. But the voters will get to decide that."

Cuomo closed the segment by doing the declaring she would not:

"I hope you get involved in the special election because I think your voice matters."

Readers can weigh the audience for a "endorsements matter in South Carolina" line, delivered on national television two days after the seat came open and eight days before candidate filing began.

The full exchange

The full career exchange, including Mace's tribute to Graham ("he was a mentor to me... and he was a really good friend of the president"). Source: NewsNation, CUOMO with Chris Cuomo, July 13, 2026. Clip via Mediaite.

The broader CUOMO segment from the same interview, on the ICE shootings in Houston and Maine, is available on NewsNation's own player:

NewsNation's own posted segment of the CUOMO interview (the ICE portion). The career exchange above is a separate clip from the same interview, via Mediaite.

Sources and related coverage

Mediaite, "Nancy Mace Says Trump 'May Have Ended My Political Career'" (Michael Luciano, July 13, 2026): mediaite.com
NewsNation, "CUOMO" with Chris Cuomo (broadcast July 13, 2026): newsnationnow.com
Axios, "Trump wants Graham's sister, not Mace, for the Senate seat" (July 13, 2026): axios.com
The Hill, "Mace eyes Senate run" (July 12, 2026): thehill.com
Ballotpedia, 2026 U.S. Senate special election in South Carolina: ballotpedia.org