The Declaration of Independence gaffe
On the eve of July 4, 2025, Mace posted disbelief that Hakeem Jeffries would call the Declaration of Independence an 'indictment', a claim that earned a Community Note and widespread ridicule, since the document's central section is a formal list of grievances against King George III.
On July 3, 2025, the eve of Independence Day, Rep. Nancy Mace posted on X expressing disbelief that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries had described the Declaration of Independence as reading like an "indictment." The problem, as Raw Story, MeidasTouch, and Daily Boulder each reported, is that Jeffries was correct: the Declaration's central section is a formal list of 27 grievances against King George III. A Community Note was added to the post. Political commentator Brian Tyler Cohen, responding to the tweet, asked flatly: "Do you have a humiliation fetish?" (attributed to Cohen)
The post that drew the correction:
Did Hakeem Jeffries just say the Declaration of Independence reads like an INDICTMENT? Did I hear that right?
Nancy Mace (@NancyMace) July 3, 2025
Mace's July 3 post, the tweet that received a Community Note on the eve of Independence Day.
Community Note correction (cited by reporting, verbatim note text not independently recovered):
The Community Note cited multiple educational sources explaining that the Declaration of Independence served as an indictment of the British monarch. The document's central section lists 27 specific grievances against King George III.
(MeidasTouch, reporting the Note's substance)
Semafor reporter David Weigel noted Jeffries had said "the second part of it reads like an indictment against an out of control king," adding: "Which it does. 'He has obstructed the Administration of Justice' etc etc. It's a short read." Criminal defense lawyer Scott Greenfield wrote: "The Declaration of Independence was, in part, an indictment of King George III. Anyone moderately familiar with the Declaration of Independence would know this."