Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina endorses Trump over former governor Nikki Haley.
Prior to the New Hampshire primary, Rep. Nancy Mace, a Republican from South Carolina, backed former President Trump over Nikki Haley on Monday.
As one of the eight Republicans who voted to remove Kevin McCarthy from his position as House speaker last year, Mace caused a stir within the House GOP. She told The Associated Press that she was supporting Trump over Haley, who represents her congressional district and backed her against a challenger backed by Trump in 2022.
“I can’t say that I completely agree with any candidate. And I haven’t been involved in it up until now,” Mace told the AP. “But the time has come to unite behind our nominee.”
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Despite the entry of Sen. Tim Scott and former governor Haley from South Carolina into the 2024 Republican primary last year, Mace refrained from participating in the contest. Scott, who dropped out of his own 2024 campaign in November and was Haley’s Senate appointee in 2012, supported Trump on Friday over Haley during an electrifying call-and-response address in New Hampshire.
At a second rally in New Hampshire on Saturday, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, the lieutenant governor, and other top state officials—such as the attorney general, treasurer, and speaker of the House—joined Trump on stage. U.S. Representatives Joe Wilson, William Timmons, and Russell Fry were also present.
Haley boasted about her two victories in South Carolina during her Monday morning appearance on Fox News, indicating that she anticipated a strong showing in the state’s impending primary.
Following Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ withdrawal from the contest on Sunday, Haley is the sole Republican contender standing to oppose Trump.
While South Carolina’s primary is in one month, and the state’s Republican leadership has mainly already thrown its support behind Trump, New Hampshire has its election on Tuesday. With Mace’s support, Trump now has the backing of four of the state’s six Republican representatives in the US House. Rep. Jeff Duncan says he won’t endorse until the primary, while Rep. Ralph Norman is supporting Haley.
Two years prior, Mace and Haley teamed up in a congressional primary that put Trump’s strength to the test in South Carolina, where his victory in the 2016 presidential primary further solidified his nomination. Newly sworn in as a freshman member, Mace went on TV following the Jan. 6, 2021, riot on the U.S. Capitol to denounce Trump for his part in the day’s events, claiming that the president’s achievements “were wiped out in just a few short hours.”
In response, Trump referred to Mace as “an absolutely terrible candidate” and asked for “any interest from good and SMART America First Republican Patriots” to challenge him and a number of other incumbent House Republicans, which included Mace, whom he had supported in her 2016 campaign and who was a member of her 2020 campaign team.
After failing to win the seat in 2018, Katie Arrington announced her quest to unseat Mace in 2022 with Trump’s “Complete and Total Endorsement.” In South Carolina, before the primary, Trump referred to Mace as “crazy” and “a terrible person.”
As she had done in 2020, Haley stumped for Mace in the meantime, helping to raise funds and speaking in favor of her in a television commercial where she was referred to as a “fighter.”
However, it’s said that the two haven’t spoken since Mace’s name was mentioned as a potential running mate for Trump in the event that he wins the GOP nomination last year.
Mace stated on Monday that she thought Trump was the superior choice this year.
“Donald Trump’s record in his first term should tell every American how vital it is that he be returned to office,” she told the Associated Press.
