Republican Representative Nancy Mace said Thursday she plans to get “revenge” on President Donald Trump for refusing to endorse her in the South Carolina gubernatorial race in a way that all recently-fired people can: by adding to his administration’s unemployment numbers.
South Carolina Republicans cast their ballots in the primary earlier this week but not for Mace, a five-term congresswoman who developed a reputation for her dramatic and, at times, abrasive political style.
Mace, who was running in a crowded field without the coveted endorsement from Trump, placed fifth in the primary.
“People keep asking me: ‘Will you get revenge on Trump for ending your political career?’” Mace wrote on X. “The answer is yes. I’ll be adding to the unemployment number in January.”
The South Carolina Republican said she plans to return to the private sector after she leaves Capitol Hill in January. It’s unclear what she plans to do, though; she did promise actor Rob Schneider, in response to his X post about her loss, that she would “be more of a menace than ever.”
It’s unclear what exactly Mace plans to do next. The 48-year-old lawmaker has been working in politics for nearly a decade.
The Independent asked Mace’s office for comment.
Before being elevated to the House of Representatives in 2020, Mace served as a state representative for South Carolina for roughly two years.
Mace also worked as a field director for Trump’s 2016 campaign and ran her own marketing and real estate businesses.
The congresswoman had dropped out of high school and worked as a server at Waffle House before obtaining her diploma. She later attended the Citadel, becoming the first woman to graduate from South Carolina’s military academy.
Although Mace has become a well-known conservative figure on the Hill, she clashed with Trump on various matters – particularly, the Epstein files release. Mace, an advocate for victims of sexual assault, had pushed the administration to release investigative information about the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Mace teamed up with other Republicans who have been critical of Trump, including Representative Thomas Massie and former Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, to get the Epstein files released. As a result, Trump refused to support all three lawmakers. Massie recently lost his primary in Kentucky and Greene resigned from Congress last year.
The South Carolina lawmaker dug a deeper rift between herself and the president when she publicly opposed U.S. military boots on the ground in the Iran war and expressed skepticism toward funding for the military operation.
One Trump political operative told Axios in May that Mace had asked Trump for an endorsement in the governor’s race. However, Trump chose to endorse South Carolina Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette instead.
Evette will head to a run-off against South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson in June.
