Nancy Mace Gets Smoked in Republican Primary After Trump Snub

Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP Images

Rep. Nancy Mace came up well short in her attempt to be the next governor of South Carolina in Tuesday’s Republican primary.

Two weeks ago, President Donald Trump endorsed Lt. Governor Pamela Evette for the job. The endorsement came after Mace reacted to some apparent rumblings about the looming stamp of approval.

“Pamela Evette is NOT ENDORSED by DONALD TRUMP,” Mace tweeted. “Do not believe her LIES.” The post featured an AI-generated video of Mace and Trump together giving the thumbs up. Trump’s endorsement of Evette came mere hours later.

“I am deeply honored to receive President @realDonaldTrump ’s Complete and Total Endorsement for Governor of South Carolina,” Evette responded. “Thank you, Mr. President.”

The primary is headed for a runoff between Evette and Attorney General Alan Wilson, as no candidate notched the majority of votes needed to avoid one. Evette is currently leading the field (29%), ahead of Wilson (26%), Rep. Ralph Norman (17%), businessman Rom Reddy (15%), and Mace (11%).

The attention-seeking Mace has run afoul of Trump on a few occasions. Most notably, she was one of a handful of House Republicans to sign a discharge petition that forced a vote on a bill to compel the Department of Justice to release its files about deceased sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. More recently, she questioned the administration’s justification for the war in Iran.

“The justifications presented to the American public for the war in Iran were not the same military objectives we were briefed on today in the House Armed Services Committee,” she said in March. “This gap is deeply troubling. The longer this war continues, the faster it will lose the support of Congress and the American people.”

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