Nancy Mace lauds Donald Trump in RNC speech that omits Joe Biden’s name and the full story | Opinion

The complicated past of Donald Trump and Nancy Mace was not in the script Wednesday, nor was it expected to be, as the South Carolina congressional leader continued a resounding show of GOP unity and strength that would be the overriding storyline of the 2024 Republican National Convention even if the Democratic Party wasn’t so divided over whether to nominate its sitting president.



It’s unfair to compare Mace’s remarks in Milwaukee on Wednesday to the riveting speeches of two other prominent South Carolinians earlier in the week. They were designed to do different things on different days.

But it’s also hard not to. It was neither as soaring as Sen. Tim Scott’s nor as eloquently effective as former Gov. Nikki Haley’s. Yet it was a prime-time address on national TV (as much as national TV is still a thing). And it shrewdly didn’t mention the president by name at a time when she has been asking others to ratchet down the political rhetoric. Thank you, Nancy Mace, for the restraint.

Like so many other convention speeches of this or any other year by either major political party, Mace’s, which you can read in its entirety below, will soon be lost to history. Before she even began, it was overshadowed by the news that President Joe Biden, in about the last thing his teetering campaign needed, had tested positive for COVID-19.

Biden is now battling Democratic defections and disease.

Trump, on the other hand, is being showed with praise and prayers since the assassination attempt that left him bloodied and unbowed on Saturday. For her part, Rep. Nancy Mace, R-Isle of Palms, called him a “strong leader” on Wednesday while also highlighting her own history.

“Anyone who thinks they can take on Donald Trump or take down America is now on notice,” Mace said. “Just as Trump rose to his feet with a defiant fist in the air in Butler Township, Penn., when we re-elect him as president in November, America will soon be back on hers.”

The story Mace told Wednesday of her own journey from high school dropout to near-three-term congresswoman omitted one of its key chapters: how she and Trump had criticized each other over Jan. 6, 2021. (It also skipped over how she helped push out the establishment House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, but that’s a story for another day.)

Let’s start at the beginning.

Trump once called Mace a warrior, and he’s not wrong. No one should underestimate her.

After dropping out of high school, she worked at a Waffle House while taking classes at a technical college nearby. After finishing those, she became the first woman to graduate from the famed South Carolina military academy The Citadel. After becoming a state representative, she gave an emotional speech at the State House about being raped as a 16-year-old. And she has stood up to and stood up for Trump over the years.

She worked as a coalitions director and field director for his 2016 presidential campaign but did not mention Trump on her 2020 campaign website for Congress or get his endorsement in that GOP primary. But after she won it, he tweeted, “Keep up the great work so we can #MAGA! We need you in Washington fast.” That House race against Democratic incumbent Joe Cunningham was the most expensive in state history. Mace beat him by a mere 5,415 votes out of 427,111 cast to become the first woman to represent South Carolina’s First Congressional District.

By her 2022 re-election campaign, Trump didn’t want her in Washington anymore.

He called her “an absolutely terrible candidate” whose “remarks and attitude have been devastating for her community, and not at all representative of the Republican Party to which she has been very disloyal.”

What earned his wrath? Mace’s criticism of him on Jan. 6, 2021.

In the immediate aftermath of that historic and horrific day, Mace denounced Trump over his role in the attack on the Capitol for which hundreds of Americans have since pleaded to or been found guilty of a number of crimes. The State reported that she had barricaded herself in her office during the attack, and slept there that night, “fearing that Trump supporters she had seen staying at her hotel might target her after she voted to certify the electoral votes.”

Mace told CNN the day after the attack that Trump’s “entire legacy was wiped out yesterday.” A week later, in her first speech on the House floor, Mace again criticized Trump, saying “I hold him accountable for the events that transpired for the attack on our Capitol last Wednesday.”

Her remarks came as she explained why she would vote against his impeachment, worried about the process and the constitutionality. But her focus that day was on the political violence escalating in the United States. Her remarks have eerie echoes of today’s somber conversation.

If only more people had listened to it.

“We’ve seen violence across our country for the last nine months,” she said. “And we need to recognize, No. 1, that our words have consequences. That there is violence on both sides of the aisle. We’ve contributed to it. We need to take responsibility for our words and our actions. We need to acknowledge there is a problem, take responsibility for it, and stop being part of the problem and start being part of the solution.”

This year, in another reversal, Trump endorsed Mace in June as she seeks a third term.

He was returning a favor. Mace had endorsed Trump over former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley for the presidency in January, announcing support for the former president over someone who lives in her congressional district and supported her in 2022 when Trump did not.

“I don’t see eye to eye perfectly with any candidate,” Mace wrote on X in January. “And until now I’ve stayed out of it. But the time has come to unite behind our nominee. To be honest, it’s been a complete shit show since he left the White House.”

This past weekend, in the immediate aftermath of another historic and horrific day, the stunning assassination attempt on Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania, Mace announced she was closing her offices to review safety protocols. She prayed for Trump and also demanded answers from the Secret Service about how a would-be killer got so close to him with a rifle. She also demanded an end to incendiary political rhetoric.

She told WCIV ABC 4 this weekend, “I’ve had my house spray painted. I’ve had my house vandalized two or three times now. I’ve had my car vandalized multiple times. I get many, many death threats. The last one, someone threatened to shoot me in the face, uh, just a couple days ago. My children have been threatened over time. These kinds of things have to stop.”

May that last line linger so long it’s no longer necessary.

Rep. Nancy Mace speech at the RNC

Below is a full transcript of Rep. Nancy Mace’s remarks Wednesday at the Republican National Convention. Let us know what you think of them in the comments below.

Good evening, America. [Applause.]

My name is Nancy “Don’t call me Pelosi” Mace. [Applause.]

I’m a congresswoman representing the great state of South Carolina. [Applause.]

At the age of 17, I learned that dropping out of high school might not have been the best idea. So I took my first job at a fine dining establishment some of you may know as the Waffle House. [Applause.]

Denny’s was a little too high brow.

While Waffle House was an important part of my journey, it would not be my destination. I soon went from making waffles to making history. Twenty-five years ago, this high school dropout became the first woman to graduate from the Citadel, the military college of South Carolina. [Applause.] A college campus where we don’t burn American flags, we salute them. [Applause.]

I’m a single mom and a rape survivor. To women tonight who can relate, please know you have a friend and a sister in me. And I will fight like hell for you. [Applause.]

I’m the daughter of an Army brigadier general and a school teacher. I’ve admired my dad’s Distinguished Service Cross from Vietnam. I’ve endured the rigors of a Citadel education. And today I represent a district that includes Parris Island, where we make Marines. [Applause.]

What we’re witnessing today is proof that strength preserves peace and weakness invites war. We can never project strength around the world when weakness stands in the White House. [Applause.]

Nations like China see weakness as opportunity. China’s fentanyl invades our borders. Their arms supply Putin’s regime. China supports enemy states like Iran. They oppress their own people, especially their women.

The world is watching America, and we must show them what we’re made of. [Applause.]

And I know a strong leader when I see one. Donald Trump stood up to China before, and he will do it again. [Applause,]

Anyone who thinks they can take on Donald Trump or take down America is now on notice.

Just as Trump rose to his feet with a defiant fist in the air in Butler Township, Penn., when we re-elect him as president in November, America will soon be back on hers. [Applause.]

We will be courageous, we will be resilient, we will be united. And we will be prepared to take on the challenges of this historic moment.

Thank you. God bless you. And God bless the United States of America. And God bless Donald J. Trump. Thank you. [Applause.]

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