A scheduling conflict has led South Carolina Congresswoman Nancy Mace to believe that the “establishment” is working against her.
Mace, who is running for governor of the state, complained on social media on Thursday that she wouldn’t be able to attend a gubernatorial debate in Charleston because of the House vote schedule on Capitol Hill.
“The ONE gubernatorial debate in my home town, where I live, is on the day I have VOTES in the US House in Washington,” she ranted.
“This is the establishment at work; trying to keep the leading candidate out of a debate by scheduling it when they know I can’t be there,” she concluded.
She attached a graphic detailing the seven-hour car ride she would have to take to get to Charleston to participate in the debate to further prove her point.
South Carolina’s Republican primary polls suggest that voters are evenly split between Mace and the state’s attorney general, Alan Wilson, while a few polls also show that Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette is the favorite.
Congressman Ralph Norman, another Republican who is running for governor of South Carolina, has not posted or made any public comment lamenting the debate schedule.
In a follow-up post, Mace continued her tirade.
“It’s safe to say, I am not the candidate the establishment is cheering on,” she said. “And that will make me a better Governor, having overcome all of their attacks, all of their roadblocks and all of their attempts to stop us.”
“South Carolina STRONG,” she added.
Her campaign also put out a press release on the dispute, which claimed the “establishment is trying to rig the election,” and said that “the establishment has long feared a Mace administration.”
“A candidate who answers to the people instead of a handful of establishment insiders is a threat to the way they’ve always done business in Columbia,” the press release alleged.
Mace has been widely criticized for complaining about the scheduling conflict.
“Wow you have to do your job? Thoughts and prayers Nancy,” former GOP Congressman Adam Kinzinger posted.
“You were elected to work in DC, that is YOUR JOB! You were not elected to run for Governor, if your priority is running for Governor then step down and allow someone who wants to work for their constituents do the job!” one social media user said.
“So what? Why would they cater to you? You think they should all fly to Washington DC to have the debate where you are?” another user said.
“That’s crazy they ended up scheduling the South Carolina gubernatorial debate IN South Carolina! What are the odds?” another said.
When reached for comment, Mace’s campaign sent the Daily Beast a February post from her opponent, Norman, which said, “Why is the @SCGOP shaking down campaigns $20k for 50 tickets to watch the debates? Do we get a gold watch while we’re at it? Pretty lame. Give all the campaigns 50 tickets each for FREE. Lt. Gov Evette, Nancy and I all agree.”
Transportation has been a huge headache for Mace throughout her third term in Congress.
She posted more than 100 times about an October incident at the Charleston International Airport in which her “irate” behavior left airport staff “visibly upset.” A report from the airport concluded that she turned a “minor miscommunication” into “a spectacle.”
Mace has maintained that the police filed a “falsified” report about the situation and has threatened to sue American Airlines and the airport.
Last summer, while wearing pink and white pajamas, she documented her road trip back to Washington, D.C., to vote on President Donald Trump’s so-called Big Beautiful Bill after she said her flight was canceled.
In one post during the overnight road trip, she wears her pajamas into a Wawa convenience store to buy energy drinks while AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell” plays in the background.
She captioned the post: “If D.C. had a theme song …”
