House Republican Wears ‘Scarlet Letter’ After ‘Being Demonized For My Vote’

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) donned a shirt emblazoned with the letter “A” in a bizarre nod to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, in which a woman is forced to wear an “A” after she is found to have committed adultery.

Last week, Mace surprised some of her Republican colleagues by voting to oust then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) from his position. She was one of eight Republicans who voted with 208 Democrats to remove him, and has been fundraising off of her vote.

The House will attempt to choose a replacement this week in a race between Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH).

On Tuesday, Mace was on Capitol Hill wearing the aforementioned shirt and explained it to reporters.

“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. “I’m here to let the rest of the world know and the country know, I’m on the side of the people. I’m not on the side of the establishment, and I’m gonna do the right thing every single time, no matter the consequences ’cause I don’t answer to anybody in D.C. I don’t answer to anyone in Washington. I only answer to the people.”

In Hawthorne’s book, Hester Prynne – a fictional woman in 17th century Massachusetts Bay Colony – is forced to wear the letter “A” after being accused of adultery.