MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — In an event billed as the “mother of all town halls,” Rep. Nancy Mace, the latest Republican candidate for governor of South Carolina, said she’ll “debate anyone” and “go into the lion’s den” — even as some who disagreed with her were asked to leave the venue.
“I like the debate. I like being asked tough questions,” Mace told NBC News in an interview after the event, held in ruby red Horry County. “And you heard me from the podium with the microphone, I actually asked Democrats to speak up, ask your questions, because I don’t fear any of the tough questions. That is democracy, and that’s what our country should be about.”
But the crowd at the intimate, Veteran-owned cafe was friendly. Mace’s staff and volunteers handed out campaign signs and buttons at the door and asked several people who came in with signs and t-shirts reflecting their opposition to Mace, including someone wearing a “Love is Love” shirt, to leave before her remarks began.
Kathi Hunt and her husband, David, made it into the venue, but told NBC News they felt pressured to leave after not clapping or cheering Mace during her remarks. “I didn’t clap and I booed something, and the woman in front of me turned around and said, ‘What are you doing here?’” Kathi Hunt, an independent, said.
David Hunt, who is a Democrat, said he had an “overwhelming sense” they’d be kicked out of the event for not clapping alongside the other attendees, so they left.
Asked about her team telling people to leave, Mace, who last held a town hall in her district in April, said she heard some protestors inside the venue calling her supporters “a four-letter word, see you next Tuesday” but that she was not aware that others were pressured to exit the cafe.
“I didn’t see that at all,” Mace said. “And if I had seen an incident happen, I would have stopped, paused and made sure that everything was kosher and okay, because the last thing I want anybody to feel is not feel welcome.”
The South Carolina congresswoman said everyone has a right to attend her events, but intimidation and name-calling is where she draws the line.
“Everyone has a First Amendment right to be here. I will answer any questions. Republican, Democrat, independent, you can come to these events. They’re public events, but what we’re not going to do is have people that intimidate other individuals, that call them really horrific names, where people don’t feel safe.”
Mace is no stranger to name-calling, repeatedly and unapologetically using a derogatory term for transgender people on her X account online and in official committee hearings at the Capitol. She did not use the term during Wednesday’s event, but she overwhelmingly focused on culture war issues, primarily targeting transgender Americans and vowing to pull funds from colleges and universities “that can’t define what a woman is.”
Speaking to NBC News after the event, Mace called herself “Trump in high heels” and touted her close relationship with the president. She also said she supports his handling of the Epstein files that have caused a rift among the base, even after she voted in the House Oversight Committee last month to require the Justice Department to release the files.
Mace said she will also sign on to a bipartisan effort to force a vote on the House floor on releasing the files when Congress returns in September. Pressed why the Republican-led House needs to force the Republican administration’s hand on the Epstein issue, Mace said, “This is what democracy looks like … that is how the House works.”
“I’m someone who’s worked and fought very hard to protect women and children, and I will always do that,” Mace argued.
Mace wouldn’t say whether she has confidence in Attorney General Pam Bondi, instead saying she has confidence “in the process.”
The loudest applause Mace got all night was for her promise to “make sure that child rapists get the death penalty.” She believes that’s “reflective of the Epstein issue” because there is a “class of people that get away with everything,” she said.
“I know this just as well as anybody else, given the trauma that I went through two years ago and seeing the way that I was treated in the system,” she continued. “If I was treated that way, how’s everybody else treated?”
In February, Mace gave a 50-minute floor speech accusing four men of rape, sex trafficking and other sex crimes against her and other women. In the speech, she also accused Republican Attorney General Alan Wilson, who is now one of her opponents in the gubernatorial race, of deliberately delaying and failing to prosecute the men. An accusation that Wilson said is “categorically false.”
Asked why she began her campaign tour in Myrtle Beach, Mace replied: “When it comes to the MAGA voters, the conservative base, those who supported Donald Trump, this is when you get the sense of the vibe of where those voters are at — it’s right here, and they’re a bellwether for the rest of the state.”
“Right now, we’re in a Republican primary, and that’s what we’re focused on, and we’ll travel all around the state, to every single county who will have us,” Mace said.
