GOP Congresswoman snaps at conservative who accused her of supporting trans people by wearing a tux

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) is not a supporter of LGBTQ+ equality. She campaigned on transphobic lies to get her seat in the past two elections, she regularly posts anti-trans equality messages to social media, and she scored just 17 out of 100 on HRC’s Congressional Scorecard.

But that’s not enough for one of her supporters who accused her of supporting transgender people because she wore a tuxedo to last weekend’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner. And while it was just one person making the comment on Twitter, Mace’s outsized reaction shows that the rightwing troll may have struck a nerve.

Related:

GOP senator attacks professor for having a transgender child

People are calling for her to be fired because of her 8-year-old child.

“Further, as our culture continues to undermine women by celebrating men who pretend to be them – why would you choose to wear a tux to the WHCD?” asked Randan Steinhauser, a self-described “Counter-Cultural Christian Conservative WOMAN,” according to her Twitter bio.

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@NancyMace – I have known you for a longtime. But your recent anti-life statements & positions are very concerning.

Further, as our culture continues to undermine women by celebrating men who pretend to be them — why would you choose to wear a tux to the WHCD? pic.twitter.com/dCZIDag6Ii

— Randan Steinhauser (@RandanMarie) April 30, 2023

Steinhauser also brought up Mace’s position on abortion, which is anti-choice. Mace suggested that Republicans find a “middle ground” on the issue on CBS’s Face the Nation last Sunday.

The comments got under Mace’s skin and she responded with quite a few tweets. First, she tweeted that “This ain’t Gilead,” a reference to the dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale.

“When they can’t win the policy or the debate, they go straight for your appearance. So it goes…,” she wrote.

When they can’t win the policy or the debate, they go straight for your appearance. So it goes…

This ain’t Gilead.

And the pearl clutching has me 🙄. https://t.co/Ev3YUtEqHt pic.twitter.com/xWliVQg54u

— Nancy Mace (@NancyMace) May 1, 2023

Then Mace posted a picture of Melania Trump wearing a tuxedo-inspired outfit, sans bowtie.

“Curious… who wore it better? Then vs. now?” Mace asked. “I love freedom and liberty, including being free to wear a tux.”

She added an American flag emoji, possibly to show off her conservative bona fides.

Curious… who wore it better? Then vs. now?

I love freedom and liberty, including being free to wear a tux. 🇺🇸@RandanMarie Your attacks on me today are pretty antithetical. But you do you.#ConstitutionalConservative#IndependentVoice https://t.co/HD12gepGh1 pic.twitter.com/WAicv5VDZv

— Nancy Mace (@NancyMace) April 30, 2023

“Just your run-of-the-mill mean girl tweet…” Mace wrote yesterday as she quote-tweeted a message from gay conservative Brad Polumbo.

Just your run-of-the-mill mean girl tweet… https://t.co/vQVzCVhKvm

— Nancy Mace (@NancyMace) May 1, 2023

And she re-tweeted posts from journalist Yashar Ali (showing Melania Trump and Donald Trump advisor Hope Hicks in a tuxedo) as well as a tweet from conservative columnist Ingrid Jacques that mentioned the incident, which, again, was literally one person tweeting about Mace’s tuxedo and getting several dozen likes.

And, for good measure, Mace tweeted a clip of her attacking transgender equality.

“We want to protect women and girls,” she wrote, as if trans women pose a threat to cis women. “Biological men should not be in female locker rooms, or competing against women in sports.”

We want to protect women and girls. Biological men should not be in female locker rooms, or competing against women in sports. pic.twitter.com/qrkQCgWRwE

— Nancy Mace (@NancyMace) May 1, 2023

When she was campaigning for office in 2020, Mace accused her opponent, the incumbent Rep. Joe Cunningham (D-SC), of working with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to pass “a law requiring transgendered [sic] equality in the military, a liberal mandate that will close Parris Island.” Parris Island is a Marine Corps base in her district.

No such law was passed. Her campaign made it up. She won the election anyway.

In 2022, she accused her Democratic opponent of “child abuse” for performing gender-affirming surgery on young children. The attacks led to threats and forced her opponent to take unpaid leave from her job as a doctor at Jenkins Children’s Hospital and increase security.

“SEX CHANGE SURGERY. PUBERTY BLOCKERS. GENDER CHANGING HORMONES. FOR CHILDREN?! THAT’S NOT PROTECTION. THAT’S CHILD ABUSE,” text on a Mace campaign ad said, referring to her opponent, Dr. Annie Andrews.

Andrews did not perform gender-affirming surgery on minors. Mace’s campaign made that up too. And Mace won that election.

Since she got into office, though, she has been trying to appear to be a more moderate alternative to extreme Republicans, calling Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) “bats**t crazy” in emojis, despite Mace’s own extreme voting record.

In 2021, she was even caught saying that the COVID-19 vaccines aren’t necessary when she spoke on Fox News and then talking about her support for the COVID-19 vaccines on CNN hours later.

Mace knows that transphobia works to win elections – at least in her district – which could explain her overreaction to one tweet from a relatively unknown person on Twitter.