1 week Ago
In her first town hall of the year, after weeks of mounting public pressure to hold an in-person forum in her coastal district, South Carolina U.S. Rep.
Nancy Mace chose to phone it in. There was no advance public notice, no social media posts promoting the question-and-answer event that unfolded shortly after 6 p.m.
April 8 — just a sudden ringing of phones and a social media alert declaring: "Congresswoman Nancy Mace LIVE Telephone Town Hall." "I don't hide from any questions," the Charleston Republican said early in the call, which was simulcast across her social media channels. She promised that she wasn’t the type to have staff filter questions and only answer easy ones.
"That's not how this is done. That's not the Mace way," she said. Some 20 minutes into the call, Mace fielded her first question — which really was just a comment on YouTube that was read aloud by a staffer: "Please keep up the good work and please keep supporting Trump, and don't back down.
" In total, Mace fielded five questions or comments over the roughly 30 minutes she was online. She began her remarks by addressing what she called "the elephant in the room," referring to what she described as "lots of fake news stories about town halls and how I don’t show up." "Well that’s just a lie," Mace said.
Last month, Mace rejected an invitation to appear at a March 28 in-person town hall hosted by the Lowcountry Accountability Alliance. Despite her absence, the town hall went on and more than 200 people packed into the Mount Pleasant Town Council chambers on a Friday night to voice their concerns to an empty chair. During her telephone town hall, a frustrated Mace insisted, "There have been plenty of town halls, either by telephone or in-person, where the raging left lunatics could show up and ask their questions.
" Minutes later, Mace reiterated her excitement for the call, emphasizing that it was her first telephone town hall of this year. Of the five questions Mace fielded, three were about bills she has introduced or co-sponsored. Another asked her to consider banning TikTok, to which Mace replied that she supports the First Amendment and the economic benefits it brings to small businesses.
One question, in which Mace was accused of being a DEI — or diversity, equity and inclusion — admission to The Citadel, struck a nerve. In 1999, Mace became the first woman to graduate from The Citadel Corps of Cadets. "I earned the right to wear the ring at The Citadel.
No one gave it to me. I didn't get it for free. I got no exceptions.
I fought like hell for my ring from The Citadel. You have no idea what I went through," Mace said, later adding, "I think your position that a woman who works hard, who earns the ring, who earns a degree at The Citadel, that she's somehow some kind of a DEI graduate. Have you lost your mind? Do you know how many women have gone through there and graduated since I helped pave the way for women in the last 25 years?" Meanwhile, in the comments section of her Facebook and YouTube pages, many expressed confusion and frustration.
"We are just finding out about this Town Hall last minute," one person wrote on Mace's Facebook page. "I'm signed up for your emails and left messages and talked to your staff asking for town hall. This is very unprofessional.
" A user on YouTube typed out, "I called your office earlier today about something occuring. I also asked about town halls. They didnt tell me about this.
" Congresswoman Nancy Mace is live taking questions from across the Lowcountry on a LIVE telephone town hall. Join the conversation by posting a comment. Mace's office did not immediately respond to questions from The Post and Courier asking what notice was given to constituents about the event, and how many people dialed in.
Becky Brouwer, the one person who came to Mace's defense during the in-person town hall last month, said she did not receive an invitation or advance notice of the telephone town hall. She said she got an alert on her phone from Facebook. She listened while she cooked dinner.
"It was effective in that she divulged a lot of information, but it seemed like she did a lot of talking," Brouwer said. "It was a lot of what she has done, why she supports no men in women's sports, you know. But if you want to have a town hall, you want to listen to people.
" Brower, who said she supports Mace and her politics, has dialed in to some of Mace's town halls in the past and attended in-person events, like the Cocktails With Your Congresswoman series. Asked if she thought the April 8 event was effective, Brouwer said, "For what they wanted to do, I guess they can check the box — 'See, I reached out to constituents and if you wanted to listen you could and if you didn't, then you can watch later or not listen at all.' But if you're a constituent who doesn't like her policies, it may not check the box for you.
" The event was not listed on the lawmaker's website or social media channels. Recordings of the call, however, are publicly posted on Facebook, YouTube and X. On April 8, Mace posted 44 times from her official U.
S. Representative account on X. The 43rd post was the livestream of the town hall.
The 44th was a clip from an April 4 interview where she accused Democrats of trying to undermine President Donald Trump..
