Nancy Mace Pulls Weird ‘Scarlet Letter’ Stunt That Doesn’t Mean What She Thinks

Josephine Harvey
Updated ·4 min read
1.3k
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) might want to check the CliffsNotes next time she tries to send a message like this.

The Republican lawmaker wore a white shirt emblazoned with the red letter “A” on Tuesday after facing backlash for voting to oust Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) from the speaker’s chair last week.

“I’m wearing the ‘scarlet letter’ after the week that I just had, last week, being a woman up here and being demonized for my vote and for my voice,” she said.

Firstly, that’s not why she’s faced disapproval. And secondly, that is not what the “The Scarlet Letter” is about.

The 19th-century novel tells the story of a woman who gets pregnant and is forced to wear a scarlet letter “A” as punishment for adultery.

Mace joined seven other Republicans and all Democrats to remove McCarthy from his post after Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) filed a motion to initiate the vote.

Mace was the only woman among the eight Republicans — who have all been criticized for throwing Congress into turmoil.

She was also called out for endorsing Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) as McCarthy’s successor, given her outspoken support for victims of sexual assault.

Jordan has been accused of ignoring sexual abuse complaints against a team doctor when he was an assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State University in the ’80s and ’90s. He has repeatedly denied the allegations.

Users of X (formerly Twitter) suggested Mace should probably have read the book — or, you know, Googled it or something — before trying the stunt.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this article incorrectly said the protagonist of “The Scarlet Letter” was unmarried.

Related...