"Proud transphobe" Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) is reportedly having trouble securing support from her own party as she runs for governor of South Carolina.
A new report from the Wall Street Journal details how Mace, who has gotten a lot of attention this past year for her increasingly erratic behavior, has become alienated from the South Carolina GOP.
The Journal spoke with more than two dozen GOP political operatives, donors, and leaders in the state as they gathered for a Clemson-South Carolina football game - and not a single one said they supported Mace.
"What she didn't understand is the fundamental reality that politics is the art of relationships. She has no political relationships whatsoever in South Carolina," said former Mace campaign consultant Austin McCubbin. "Why are you running for governor and telling people you have no friends?"
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McCubbin was referring to an interview on Newsmax in November in which Mace bragged about having no friends.
Her soliloquy started out as a fairly standard pitch from a politician, claiming not to be part of an "elite" even though, like all federal elected officials, she is. "I'm not part of the powerful, I'm not part of the elite, I'm an island of one," she said.
She kept on going, and her speech got sadder and sadder. "I don't get invited to parties," she told host Rob Finnerty. "I don't have any friends. I have a dog."
It seems Mace has struggled socially for a long time, in fact. Eric McQuade, who attended the Citadel with Mace, described his impression of her time there as "lonely."
"The first time I ever saw Nancy Mace, and she was climbing the rock wall, and there were people screaming at her: 'Fall b**h. Die b**h,'" he said.
The Journal did quote one GOPer - Charleston's Carolina Republican Coalition leader, Mara Brockbank - who said she liked Mace but isn't endorsing anyone in the gubernatorial race. "She's a powerhouse," Brockbank said of Mace. "There's no midway with Nancy... I think she's feisty."
Despite positioning herself as a warrior for women, Mace has devoted her time in Congress to waging a vicious campaign against trans women.
She has used transphobia to make herself a household name, elevating her profile with increasingly outrageous anti-trans outbursts. She has, in many ways, become the public face of the Republicans' crusade to eradicate trans people from all aspects of civic life.
She has lobbed transphobic slurs at a student; shouted slurs during a speech and a House committee meeting; publicly bullied a trans influencer; was booed when discussing a trans activist's genitals at a public talk; targeted two universities in her state for offering more than two gender options on certain student forms; referred to Rep. Sarah McBride (D-DE) as "it" and "a man" in a TV news appearance; and called trans people "mentally ill" (even though trans identity isn't considered a mental illness by any major medical or psychological association).
Mace also persuaded Johnson to introduce a rule banning all trans people from using Capitol restrooms that match their gender identity. She also voted against reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act because it would give some protections to trans inmates.
Mace has also written hundreds of posts on social media attacking trans people, some of which include slurs. Numerous members of Congress have criticized Mace's "vile" and "disgusting" rhetoric.
Most recently, she has become embroiled in controversy over her alleged behavior at the Charleston International Airport. South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson (R) called Mace a "spoiled brat" after she accused him of a "political hit job" against her in allegedly orchestrating the incident's aftermath.
Mace - who is running against Wilson in the South Carolina governor's race - is claiming police "falsified" a report which said she turned a minor miscommunication at the Charleston International Airport into a swear-filled "spectacle" that left airport employees visibly upset.
She claimed Wilson is behind the supposed fake report, which Wilson called "a categorical lie" during an interview on CNN. "It's also delusional and crazy for her to make these kinds of crazy accusations," he said.
He emphasized that half a dozen people reported on Mace's behavior. "They're all saying the same thing. Is everyone lying and she telling the truth? And it's not just this one incident. Apparently, there's a handful of incidents over the last year where she is cussing out TSA, cussing out security," he said.
"This is something that goes back not just this past month, but for the last year," he emphasized. "At the end of the day, she's saying things that are delusional. This basically reminds me of a spoiled brat, an entitled, spoiled brat."