Congresswoman Nancy Mace And Donald Trump's Rocky Relationship, Explained

South Carolina Congresswoman Nancy Mace is one of the Republicans who have taken a swipe at Former President Donald Trump. During his first presidential campaign, Mace, who'd previously failed to win South Carolina's senatorial primaries, served as Trump's coalitions and field director. In turn, he supported her political career by endorsing her in 2020.

However, following the January 2021 Capitol riot instigated by Trump, Mace criticized Trump on CNN, saying, "Trump's entire legacy was wiped out yesterday." She also told NBC, "My children were supposed to be up there. If they had been there like they were supposed to be, I would have been devastated, so we do need to find a way to hold the president accountable."

Not one to turn the other cheek, Trump withdrew his endorsement for Mace and put Katie Arrington forward as his chosen candidate for South Carolina's 1st Congressional District. He also tagged her as an awful politician who had upset South Carolina Republicans. To control the damage, Mace posted a video of herself in front of Trump Tower on X, formerly Twitter, listing her contributions to his presidential campaign and her support for him in the 2020 elections. However, that did nothing to change Trump's mind. In a video shared by Forbes Breaking News, he called her an "atrocious rhino" and said that she made the video to pretend that he'd endorsed her. "I'm saying, 'Can you believe this?' It was untruthful just like everything else she does."

Donald Trump's influence within the Republican party made his endorsement of Katie Arrington a problem for Nancy Mace. Nonetheless, she refused to drop out of the race, determined to keep her seat. In a conversation with The State, she insisted, "I'm gonna win without him." Luckily, Mace was later endorsed by Nikki Haley, who also used to have a good relationship with Donald Trump.

Congresswoman Nancy Mace ended up winning, and despite the bad blood, Trump congratulated her. "Congrats to Nancy Mace, who should easily be able to defeat her Democrat opponent!," he posted on Truth Socia, per The Hill. This seemed to have softened the relationship between the politicians, and Mace's support for Trump was prominent during his indictment concerning classified documents. She appeared on Fox News before her fellow Republican colleagues and accused the Oversight Committee of being biased against him. She claimed that they chose to go after Trump because Joe Biden was abusing his power. Politico reports that Trump reached out to Mace and thanked her for her support.

During a June 2023 conversation with Politico, Nancy Mace stated that she believed Donald Trump was much better than Joe Biden. "We can't afford four more years of Joe Biden. I'm willing to bury the hatchet to save the country, and I know President Trump is too."  When she appeared on The Daily Show in October 2023, she staunchly defended Trump in the face of his indictments, saying she didn't believe he was guilty of the charges against him. However, the congresswoman added that he was surrounded by guilty people.

In a January 22, 2024 post on X, formerly known as Twitter, the congresswoman formally endorsed Trump for president in the 2024 election. "By every barometer, our lives and our nation were better under President Trump. The economy was booming, our border was locked down, and our nation and her allies were safer because our adversaries feared him, she wrote. However, despite her renewed loyalty, she doesn't seem to be on the list of people Donald Trump could pick as his running mate.