South Carolina Congresswoman Nancy Mace has backed former President Donald Trump on the eve of the 2024 New Hampshire primary.
Mace is the latest South Carolina political leader to back the 45th president over Nikki Hakey, who served as governor from 2011 to 2017.
“Today I’m endorsing Donald J. Trump for President,” Mace said in a statement to AP News. “I don’t see eye to eye perfectly with any candidate. And until now I’ve stayed out of it. But the time has come to unite behind our nominee.” Today I’m endorsing Donald J. Trump for President.
I don’t see eye to eye perfectly with any candidate. 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.
Our… pic.twitter.com/qG6B3O8waN
— Nancy Mace (@NancyMace) January 22, 2024
Mace worked on the Trump campaign in 2016 but has, at times, been critical of the real estate mogul since joining Congress.
After the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Mace distanced herself from the president.
"Every accomplishment that Republicans have made over the last four years, including President Trump had (made) were wiped out in just a few short hours," she told the Post & Courier on Jan. 7, 2021. She also voted to hold former Trump advisor Steve Bannon in contempt of Congress.
The tides turned about a year later. Mace posted a video outside of Trump Tower in February of 2022, calling herself one of Trump’s earliest supporters.
“I supported him again in 2020 because of policies I believed in. He brought American jobs back. He lowered our taxes. Wages and employment were better for every hard-working American in our country,” she said, per Mediaite. “He made America safer and he took on China directly and America was stronger all around the world and, frankly, freedom and democracy was stronger all around the world.”
She downplayed previous political tension during an interview in June of 2023 and continued to emphasize her support for Trump.
“We can’t afford four more years of Joe Biden,” Mace told POLITICO. “I’m willing to bury the hatchet to save the country, and I know President Trump is too.”
South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster first endorsed Trump in January of 2016 when he was serving as lieutenant governor.
“You know, we’ve got a saying in the South that says it’s not the dog in the fight that’s important, it’s the fight in the dog that’s important,” McMaster told a crowd in Gilbert, per The Washington Post. “Well this dog’s got plenty of fight — and it’s gonna take some fighting.”
His office confirmed he continues to support Trump in a statement to the Post & Courier in November of 2022.
Senator Tim Scott endorsed Trump at a rally in New Hampshire on Jan. 19. He described the Republican frontrunner as “a president our foreign adversaries are afraid of and our allies respect” and who will “unite our country.”
Haley endorsed Mace in 2022 during her primary, where the incumbent representative faced off against Kate Arrington – whom Trump had endorsed.
“Nancy is the conservative voice the Lowcountry needs in Washington,” Haley said of Mace, per The State. “She’s a fighter who stands up to Biden’s reckless spending, punches back against lawless lockdowns and mandates, and is strong on border security.”
