Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., is characterizing the heated protests at her Monday town hall as the product of “lunatic rage.”
The South Carolina congresswoman and GOP gubernatorial candidate faced off with activists during an event in Greenville, defending President Trump’s immigration policies amid questions about their constitutionality.
“I had an event in Greenville and then one hour later in Spartanburg, two different towns in the upstate. And we had some of the same protesters show up at both events,” Mace said.
“Here is a man, President Donald Trump, who is making our country and our capital, everywhere safer, by deporting those who are here illegally. And the left’s response, Democrats’ response, is to protest in favor of MS-13, to protest in favor of the wife beaters, to protest in favor of violent criminals who are here illegally.”
Nancy Mace is a Republican in her third term representing a congressional district in South Carolina’s Lowcountry along the Atlantic coast.
During her Greenville town hall, one attendee asked how Mace would ensure individuals detained in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids receive “due process,” a constitutional right.
“I mean, if I could put the National Guard on the corner of Home Depot every morning at 6 a.m., I would do that too,” Mace responded.
At another point, she told a critical attendee, “Some of you do hate our country,” adding, “I think you might even hate our state, too.”
It is a more confrontational approach than some fellow Republicans have taken at town halls.
“These people need a dose of their own medicine. And these are people that weren’t told ‘no’ growing up. They were told that they could be a unicorn, that men could get pregnant, all these crazy things. And that is not reality. That is not the world that we live in,” Mace said of her decision to confront protesters.
“These people need a dose of reality…somebody has to be the adult in the room, and somebody has to tell these people the truth.”
She also expressed her willingness to continue facing critics at future town hall events.
“I don’t mind it. I hope that more come to our events. We’re taking the state by storm,” Mace said.
Mace is competing in a crowded Republican gubernatorial primary that includes South Carolina Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, state Sen. Josh Kimbrell, state Attorney General Alan Wilson, and fellow House GOP lawmaker Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C.
