COLUMBIA, S.C. — There’s nothing like a circus for entertainment, especially if you enjoy the blood sport of South Carolina politics. The Roman Colosseum had nothing on the state’s political games, which these days have become more dramatic thanks to the head-spinning theatrics of Rep. Nancy Mace, the erstwhile Republican front-runner in the governor’s race.
The jumbo surprise under the big top as the primary election approaches on Tuesday was President Donald Trump’s endorsement of the Other Woman running for governor — Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette. On the morning of May 29, the reliably fire-breathing Mace jumped on social media apparently to head off rumors that Trump was planning to commit his support to Evette.
“Pamela Evette is NOT ENDORSED by DONALD TRUMP,” Mace exclaimed at 10:05 a.m. on X. “Do not believe her LIES.” Speaking of fake news, the post featured a video generated by artificial intelligence of Mace and Trump giving a thumbs-up.
Trump officially backed Evette in a Truth Social post at 5:45 p.m. that day. At 7:03 p.m., a more sober Mace said Trump’s snub was because of her demand for transparency on the Epstein files.
“If sacrificing my values is the price of an endorsement, I will never pay it,” she wrote on X. (Okay, brava, but Mace’s support for Trump has waffled through the years, no offense to her proud past as a Waffle House waitress.)
Nevertheless, on May 31, Mace posted a photo of herself and Trump with more thumbs-up and a quote from him describing her as “a fighter.” No one has ever disputed the veracity of Trump’s observation, but several fact-checking enthusiasts on the platform accused Mace of misleading voters about his support.
The president also appeared to endorse Gov. Henry McMaster’s son, lawyer Henry McMaster Jr., to be Evette’s lieutenant governor. The only hitch is that Evette hasn’t agreed to the younger McMaster as her running mate, though his inclusion on the ticket has long been talked about around the State House.
Trump’s endorsements look like a trade-off with McMaster, sort of like when Don Corleone loans money to a young man in distress with the ominous suggestion that someday he may call upon him for a favor. Don Trump helped McMaster by making then-Gov. Nikki Haley ambassador to the United Nations, which paved the way for McMaster to become governor; therefore, wouldn’t McMaster like to reconsider his statement that he wouldn’t call for a special session for legislators to push through Trump’s desired congressional redistricting map?
The governor did reconsider, and he did recall legislators to Columbia. But instead of doing the Don’s bidding, enough Republicans joined Democrats to rebuke the president. Apparently, the state’s secessionist blood runs a deeper red than a MAGA cap. Even without the redistricting win, Evette was an easy endorsement for the president. The self-made millionaire has been an unwavering Trump supporter.
In a poll of likely Republican voters released Monday by the Trafalgar Group, Evette leads the GOP field with 26 percent. Businessman Rom Reddy, who should win with his name alone, is at 17 percent; Attorney General Alan Wilson, 17 percent; Rep. Ralph Norman, 16 percent; and Mace, 15 percent.
All three front-runners were AWOL at a Republican primary debate on Monday, leaving a doleful trio, including Mace, to bore the moderator and fill the airwaves with soul-sucking ennui. Joining Mace were state Sen. Josh Kimbrell, a former Christian talk radio host who dropped out of the race Wednesday, and Norman, whose tenure in the House has been a testament to MAGA mania.
Mace’s behavior may be erratic, but Norman is a menace. An eager player in the Trump-inspired conspiracy to declare the 2020 election “stolen,” Norman dashed off a frantic text to Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows three days before Joe Biden’s inauguration, saying: “We are at a point of … no return … in saving our Republic!! Our LAST HOPE is invoking Marshall [sic] Law!! PLEASE URGE TO PRESIDENT TO DO SO!!”
How did two people as wild-eyed as Norman and Mace manage to be boring together?
Mace’s legendary public meltdowns include the time she berated airport police for failing to obey her orders. Then there are the more shocking moments: using the House floor to accuse her ex-fiancé and three other men of raping her and other women. (Her ex-fiancé denied the allegations.)
Mace’s serial histrionics seem more apt to invite an exorcism than the governorship, which may explain her signature fashion accessory — dangling cross earrings the size of parakeets.
If Mace is, indeed, spiraling and needs help, as some of her former colleagues and social media followers have asserted, then we mustn’t be mean (anymore). South Carolinians have always had a soft spot for eccentrics or at least observed them benignly, as when a foppish yet frumpy fellow fills his pockets with ham biscuits from the Charleston Yacht Club buffet, as I once witnessed. They do not, however, elect their “interesting” aunts and uncles to public office. Well, not most of the time, anyway. Bat-crazy isn’t a good look for a governor.
The post From front-runner to Epstein files: The spiral of Nancy Mace appeared first on Washington Post.
