So. It’s 2020 and another election cycle. That means it’s time once again to comment on yet another Nancy Mace political campaign. It’s now been ten years that she has been either running for office or scheming to run for office, and she still has placed herself on the side of evil.
I first commented on her political ambitions back in 2013 when she was in the process of trying to put together a primary challenge to Lindsay Graham. Somehow she decided that the way to beat Graham was to run to the right of him and so in the process ally herself with some really, really, bad people. She lost the race as expected – but as some political observers noted at the time (myself included), winning was not really her goal. It was a test drive to work the bugs out of the machine to pursue her ambition downstream.
https://fareastcynic.com/2013/08/28/she-needs-more-than-just-a-ring-on-her-finger/
Personally, I think this is all part of a carefully orchestrated Public Relations strategy on her part. She knows she will lose to Graham-and if it were any normal state, she would never have even attempted such a candidacy. This is South Carolina, the however-the same state that elected such bastions of intellectual integrity as Nikki Haley. So by running and making noise now-she can establish a name for herself, scare Graham and force him to veer to the right into areas he has no business going into, and build up a war chest for her real aim, some Congressional seat in South Carolina or Georgia.
Fast forward to 2015, and she decided, rather early, to figuratively climb in bed with the orange monster – one Donald J. Trump – and go to work on his campaign. Now mind you, at the time she did, few people expected Trump to win the nomination, so it was a pretty big gamble. The fact that Trump had already exposed himself as an unfit reprobate and pathological liar, the kind who does not know the difference between lies and truth -did not seem to give her pause. This was before Lindsay Graham had sold his soul – and was still considered a “moderate” Republican Senator. But she got on the Trump Train anyway – express train to hell, no local stops.
However, interestingly enough, she got off the train sometime in 2016. The reasons are in dispute and there was some speculation that she was fired from the Trump Campaign in South Carolina – something she denies. But it was something her opponent used to hammer her in the primary run-up:
Meanwhile, a whisper campaign behind the scenes has suggested Mace’s departure from the Trump campaign may have been linked to something even more salacious.
In a press release following the latest first district forum on May 26, 2020, Mace’s top opponent in the race – Mount Pleasant, S.C. town councilwoman Kathy Landing – took a shot at the frontrunner (albeit not by name), specifically referencing alleged discrepancies in the latter’s background.
“While one of my opponents used tonight’s debate to dodge questions that must be answered before Republican primary voters cast their ballots, I did not shy away from my background or ideas to improve the quality of life for residents in (the first district),” Landing said in the statement.
We reached out to Landing (above) on Wednesday after receiving the press release and confirmed she was indeed referring to Mace – and specifically rumors surrounding her departure from the Trump campaign in 2016.
“Instead of referring people to a LinkedIn profile – the contents of which she dreamed up, Nancy Mace should have answered why she was not on President Trump’s team for the final months of the campaign,” Landing told us.
Landing also popped Mace for talking the talk – but not walking the walk – when it came to party unity.
A quick word about the source here – Fitsnews is a web site devoted to South Carolina politics that Nancy Mace co-owned with a guy named Will Folks. She sold her ownership stake in the company in 2013 prior to launching an unsuccessful campaign for the U.S. Senate against Lindsey Graham. It’s not a reliable source – and questionable given Will Folk’s own personal baggage over the years.
Mace’s response to any allegations was this:
“Here are the facts: In 2015 Nancy was hired to work on the Trump campaign until the end of the South Carolina primary, but instead ended up being asked to travel to several more states and work for them longer than planned,” Mellstrom said. “Nancy loved every minute of it, but politics isn’t her occupation. She earns her living and pays her bills in real estate and has done so for the past several years. She had to get back to her job doing that.”
Interestingly enough she did not stick to that intention, running for the statehouse in 2017. On September 18, 2017, Mace announced and filed as a Republican to run in a special election for the South Carolina State House District 99 seat being vacated by Jimmy Merrill, who resigned earlier that month following an indictment and plea deal for several ethics violations. She won the runoff election then won in the general election.
And now just two years later – she is running for Congress to take Mark Sanford’s old seat. Sanford, you may recall earned disfavor by refusing to support the orange monster. He was primaried in 2018 and lost to Katie Arrington. And much earlier than that he hiked the Appalachian Trail all the way down to Argentina. ( For which Nikki Haley will be forever grateful).
It’s really interesting as you dig around finding information on Ms. Mace. She is indirectly tied to a few of the biggest political scandals in recent South Carolina history especially this one:
South Carolina political blogger Will Folks claimed that he had an affair with Republican candidate for governor Nikki Haley, an assertion that Haley denies.
Folks wrote on his blog Monday that he had an “inappropriate physical relationship” several years ago with Haley, before he was married.
Mace was still co-owner of the blog at that point. She’s had a frosty relationship with Nikki Haley ever since, although Haley endorsed her for Congress.
Mace’s famously frosty relationship with former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley stems from her co-ownership of FITS News, a political gossip and bikini website that falsely accused Ambassador Haley of cheating on her husband during her 2010 campaign for South Carolina governor, again in 2013, and called Nikki Haley demeaning and explicit names. Responding to the ensuing criticism, Mace said the website was “speaking the truth on behalf of the citizens and taxpayers of the Palmetto state.”
It’s really very interesting – the more you dig around about Nancy Mace’s career – the more you find some really disturbing things. My beef with her is primarily political, she is allied with the worst of the worst of the worst in the teabagger world. However, she is also tarred directly and indirectly with some really sketchy things as I mentioned above. But only on the fringes. Or maybe not.
Now I would submit that South Carolina politics is dirty and has been for a long, long time, so some of this should not be given too much credence – save for the fact that South Carolina Republicans make their “morality” a selling point. What all of this sketchy stuff does confirm for me is something I believed way back in 2013. Nancy Mace’s whole career since graduating from The Citadel ( as a transfer student it is also worth noting) has been one of shameless self-promotion.
And I’m not the only one who noticed that. Her challenger in this Congressional election has too:
In this campaign, State Representative Mace will spare no expense to attempt to present herself as an “outsider,” but that just isn’t the truth. Mace is a consummate political insider who is part of the problem with politics today. A shameless self-promoter, Mace’s foul-mouthed and salacious attempts for attention won’t mesh well with a reserved electorate that favors down-home, authentic leadership to climber politicians who put on airs.
There is no doubt Nancy Mace is a clever woman. It’s just sad that she uses that skill to embrace political positions designed to fuck over average Americans.
She favors privatizing Social Security – and has yet to speak out against Trump’s threats to dismantle the payroll tax.
She’s a climate change denier.
She has declared herself on board with the Trump plan to strip healthcare protections for millions. Her own website shows that she really does not understand how Medicaid expansion works – or propose a concrete plan if the ACA is struck down.
She has lied about a planned closure of Parris Island Marine Corps Recruit Depot.
She is liquored up on the flat tax-something that should disqualify her as a serious candidate from the start.
She has taken money from gun groups.
She supports offshore drilling. As well as the other Trump deregulation moves that threaten the environment.
She supports Trump’s immigration stance – which by extension, means she supports the truly evil things that Adolf Eichmann Stephen Miller has been doing to literally kill people, separate families, and otherwise behave inhumanely. There is no moral high ground here – you get on board with Miller’s program; you are an accomplice to evil.
One final point and one near and dear to my heart – she mouths useless platitudes about Israel while at the same time showing ZERO understanding of the country or the issues it has within the region and with the United States. Although she does not say it – she implies- that she is on board with Jared Kushner’s giveaway to Likud, the farce he calls a peace process. Basically, it’s boilerplate teabagger rhetoric that makes them happy while showing they know nothing about Israel as it really is.
As of today, she is engaged in COVID denialism – just like her Presidential candidate. The same day that the US had 88,000 new cases and 1016 deaths. We are losing a thousand people a day. She should be attacking Mitch McConnell for not getting a COVID assistance bill done – but she is not. She toes the party line.
The list goes on – summed up, she is on the wrong side of just about everything, and worse yet, she is placing herself there not out of sincere belief but cynical opportunism.
So she may be a Citadel graduate. But in every way that counts, she has forgotten the ideals of the institution and the country. She has allied herself with a monster – and thinks it won’t destroy her in the process.
News flash – it will:
Let her go back to selling real estate.
I really have no desire to engage…….however, are you from South Carolina? And,most importantly, are you a graduate of The Citadel? These are important questions as you endeavor to slander “the ring” and somehow impune the reputation of The Citadel. I can assure you that while at The Citadel, Ms. Mace and thousands of others we regimented to learn the virtues of respect, respect of God, Country, and Humanity.
In your BLOG, you discern differences between the Asian culture, you should also note that there are indeed differences of the American Culture. And, these differences span long beyond the stereo types of the segment of society that desire separation. It is a certain falsehood that all from the South are racist. I would even be so bold as to say that most of modern Southern society strive to live in harmony and inclusion. Strangely, detractors from this statement always seem to come from outside….the North..professional athletes making millions of dollars.
Strangely, in your article about the house race, you forgot to talk about the do nothing Cunningham.
Sadly, I have come to learn that it is only free speech if the liberals agree with it. How far we have descended.
BTW, I was originally “linked” to your site from another as I now live and have lived in Asia for over four years. I love Asia and the people that live here. It’s a great society built on respect for one another. I was really surprised to find your site. And, like you, I have lived in Europe (over ten years). So, sensational article but you have shown nothing but liberal bias. Nancy Mace is of impeccable character and an exemplary citizen of South Carolina. If that is something to attack, I am at a loss for words. Again, not sure where you are from but those of us from South Carolina would prefer to see the good in all our “friends” and perhaps show the differences as opposed to assuming someone is a bad person due to political affiliation.
Best of luck to you.
Thank you for your comment. I do appreciate it.
You are probably correct that there is little to be gained from a protracted discussion – but I think its worth providing some additional explanatory material that ( I hope) will clarify my position somewhat.
1) I am a Citadel graduate. I earned my ring. You can go back through my archives to find several posts about the college and my opinions on the direction of the institution both in the past and the present.
2) I also was a Republican – for over 26 years. The party left me – not the other way around, primarily due to the war in Iraq and the rampant embrace of cruelty and selfishness that the party undertook during the early years of the Obama administration. I’ve been critical of the tea party and the GOP for many, many years. I am aligned with Max Boot and other prominent Never Trumpers who are of the opinion that GOP in its current form is a destructive force in this nation and must be obliterated so it can be rebuilt.
3) I am not a South Carolina resident, but from my point of view, that is irrelevant. I understand southern politics all too well having had the misfortune of being an Alabama voter for way too many years. I know how frustrating it is to be represented by one of the lunatics in the Freedom Caucus. I donated to Cunningham’s campaign and to the campaign of Jaime Harrison because I wanted both Lindsey Graham and Nancy Mace to be defeated. I write about her and politics in South Carolina for the same reason I write critically about Brexit, Japanese politics, affairs in Israel or any other subject that strikes my fancy for one particular reason: I am an American citizen and what happens in one place affects me in another. We live in the 21st century in an interconnected world. Regional differences have little place in a mobile nation such as the United States.
4) One reason I wrote the article and others is that I have real frustration with the attitude of some, on the various alumni boards, that one has to be a conservative if one is a Citadel graduate. And that I have to support Nancy Mace because of the fact that she is a Citadel graduate, even though her stated positions are 180 degrees in opposition to my values. More disturbing to me is the bonafide instances I have seen, where certain “men of honor” have taken their disagreements with others on these subjects off the internet and into real-life – abusing their positions to actually threaten a fellow graduate and his family.
5) I’ve lived almost twenty years overseas and spent significant time in some 6 different countries besides the United States. I don’t feel I have a liberal bias – however I do have a frustration that the United States is not living up to its potential as a nation, and it fails miserably to improve itself. The examples I have seen overseas have demonstrated to me that there are better ways to do business. The US has the energy and the resources to be better – it simply chooses not to do so. That causes me real frustration.
6) Which brings me to both Nancy Mace and Mr. Cunningham. He did one important thing as far as I am concerned and that was to vote to impeach Donald Trump – who is a dangerously unfit individual who has no business being President of the United States. The impeachment was long overdue, in my humble opinion, and if you read my other posts you will find that I firmly believe he has to be removed from office. He is an enemy of the Constitution pure and simple.
My opposition to Ms. Mace is simple. She has chosen to ally herself with some truly terrible people and to support positions that are destructive to the future of the United States. My frustration is that she could have used her considerable talents for good -she could be a reformer in the GOP- but she freely chose not to. She is going to be a US Congressman, but she’s a part of the party of Trump now and that is just dangerous and destructive for the country as a whole. It’s not suppressing free speech to point out that I find that to be at odds with ideals that Citadel professes to teach.
” no matter how this election concludes, America is now a different country. Nearly half of the voters have seen Trump in all of his splendor—his infantile tirades, his disastrous and lethal policies, his contempt for democracy in all its forms—and they decided that they wanted more of it. His voters can no longer hide behind excuses about the corruption of Hillary Clinton or their willingness to take a chance on an unproven political novice. They cannot feign ignorance about how Trump would rule. They know, and they have embraced him. Sadly, the voters who said in 2016 that they chose Trump because they thought he was “just like them” turned out to be right. Now, by picking him again, those voters are showing that they are just like him: angry, spoiled, racially resentful, aggrieved, and willing to die rather than ever admit that they were wrong.”