Nancy Mace has launched a defense against wild accusations made by her former staffers.
The South Carolina Republican, 48, put on her dangling cross earrings and matching gold pendant necklaces to record a selfie video defending herself from allegations of excessive alcohol consumption, which were published in a New York Magazine article that she branded a “hit piece” before its release.
Unnamed sources told the magazine that in incidents going back to 2021, during Mace’s first term, she would order them to bring her liquor after midnight to keep her house parties running.
“Look, when I worked for her, our poor scheduler was getting calls at two o’clock in the morning to come bring her bottles of tequila,” a former staffer claimed.
“She would definitely do it excessively,” sources told the outlet about Mace’s drinking and marijuana use. “And again, not to say that most members don’t or most staff don’t, but it got to the point where it was an issue.”
On Tuesday, Mace addressed the controversy herself in a series of posts on X.
“So I have some news for the fake news spreading the lies that I abuse alcohol,” she said in a 41-second video set to a cinematic superhero theme that grew louder as the clip went on.
Mace said she was born with a genetic condition called hemochromatosis, a type of iron overload disease.
“Because I have this, because of this genetic condition, I am unable to consume much in the way of any alcohol at all. I’m not even supposed to,” before admitting, “I do socially, occasionally. It would cause all sorts of disease on my organs, cancer, et cetera, shorten my lifespan. And I love living, and I love life, so we’re not doing that.”
The video was accompanied by a lengthy caption that read, “But that’s not a salacious headline. And rather boring. ‘Congresswoman manages genetic disease responsibly’ doesn’t get clicks. So instead of printing the truth, which the NY Mag had, they imply whatever personal grievances and smear my reputation because the news cycle doesn’t control me. Neither does the establishment.”
In another post, Mace shared an image of herself drinking out of a white mug labeled “NOT TEQUILA.”
Jake Lahut, the reporter who wrote the piece for New York Magazine, responded to the selfie in an X post on Tuesday.
“Obligatory reminder that NY mag has great fact checkers and this story was, in fact, fact checked,” he said.
The article also included allegations that Mace made her staff create burner accounts to defend her from online critics and boost her standing in Reddit forums ranking the “hottest women in Congress.” Former staffers also told the magazine that Mace made them do housework, including cleaning multiple properties that she was renting out on Airbnb.
Cameron Morabito, Mace’s director of operations, told New York Magazine that the allegations were “so ridiculous they don’t even merit a response.” He also told the Daily Beast in a statement, “If you print these allegations, know full well that you are printing false information and innuendo tabloid gossip passed off as ‘news.’”
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