{"id":23751,"date":"2026-06-06T14:02:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T14:02:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/nancy-mace-knows-her-epstein-vote-screwed-her-with-trump-she-doesnt-care\/"},"modified":"2026-06-06T14:02:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T14:02:20","slug":"nancy-mace-knows-her-epstein-vote-screwed-her-with-trump-she-doesnt-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/nancy-mace-knows-her-epstein-vote-screwed-her-with-trump-she-doesnt-care\/","title":{"rendered":"Nancy Mace knows her Epstein vote screwed her with Trump. She doesn\u2019t care."},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Nancy Mace thinks she knows why she didn\u2019t get President Donald Trump\u2019s endorsement.<\/p>\n

The embattled South Carolina House Republican, who\u2019s in the midst of a bruising race for governor<\/a>, has a long history of bucking \u2014 and then cozying back up to \u2014 Trump. But her leading role in releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files was likely a bridge too far for the president, who has spent significant time and energy this year to get revenge against his GOP defectors.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s recent decision to back<\/a> one of Mace\u2019s primary opponents, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, in the crowded field will carry monumental weight in the crimson-red state. Past elections suggest that, with the president\u2019s endorsement, Evette has all but secured her place in a runoff, as Mace and three other Republicans continue to scramble for the second spot on the ballot.<\/p>\n

Still, the three-term representative says she has no regrets about her Epstein vote \u2014 or its consequences.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the sole reason I didn’t get the endorsement, because I voted to release the Epstein files, and I’m okay with that,\u201d Mace told Blue Light News. \u201cI’ve worked very hard to expose pedophiles, and child rapists, and sex trafficking in my state, and will continue to do it regardless of the outcome of the election.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s full steam ahead, no matter what. I\u2019m not going down without a fight,\u201d she added. \u201cI’m still the MAGA candidate. I support all of MAGA\u2019s policies. I support our president. I’m also an independent conservative.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mace is one of the few remaining Republican Epstein files defectors left standing, after the president blitzed Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) out of Congress<\/a> and turned on former Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene<\/a> (R-Ga.).<\/p>\n

Unlike with the other figures, Trump has not publicly made this particular race about his personal dissatisfaction with Mace, staying relatively quiet until he announced his endorsement of Evette in the final two-week window of the primary. But the late Trump headwind is yet another obstacle for Mace\u2019s campaign, which has been otherwise dogged by controversies<\/a> and a serious primary field that\u2019s already been difficult for her to navigate.<\/p>\n

Mace\u2019s run for governor is her highest-profile race yet \u2014 and one that will define the next chapter of her rollercoaster career. She\u2019s had to overcome retributive political challenges from several influential figures in her own party and navigate public questions about her own mental health<\/a>.<\/p>\n

She bested a Trump-backed challenger<\/a> in 2022, a consequence for condemning the president after the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. In 2024, she handily defeated a primary challenge<\/a> funded by allies of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who Mace voted to oust the year prior. And now, she\u2019s back on the outs with Trump again, though she\u2019s still trying to align herself closely with the president and reiterating her respect for him<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The White House declined to comment and instead referred Blue Light News to the president\u2019s Truth Social post<\/a> explaining his endorsement of Evette, which did not mention Mace. He instead touted Evette\u2019s closeness to GOP Gov. Henry McMaster, a Trump ally.<\/p>\n

Observers and Mace\u2019s opponents in South Carolina paint a complex picture of how the race and Mace\u2019s candidacy have shaped out.<\/p>\n

She launched her campaign in the summer of 2025, armed with sky-high name recognition and the ability to tap into grassroots online fundraising, which paid dividends at the outset of the contest. Trump even shared a poll<\/a> that showed her leading the field \u2014 one that Mace told Blue Light News last year that she personally sent to<\/a> the president. But in early September, she joined House Democrats and signed onto Massie\u2019s effort to force a vote to later release the Epstein files \u2014 an open defiance of the president\u2019s wishes.<\/p>\n

The tide started to shift against her in November, and not only because of the Epstein files drama.<\/p>\n

Mace got into a public entanglement with the Charleston Airport Authority over a prearranged escort from the curb to her gate, leading to embarrassing headlines<\/a> locally and nationally.<\/a><\/p>\n

Airport authorities detailed in a report<\/a> that Mace, in a profanity-laced tirade, lit into law enforcement officers and TSA agents for failing to meet her at a preordained pickup location, even as they walked her to her flight.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the airport thing hurt her more than the [Epstein] thing,\u201d said Terry Sullivan, a longtime South Carolina Republican operative, who is unaffiliated in the race. \u201cShe\u2019s had really strong debate performances, she’s articulate, she’s right on the issues for these folks, but then she just goes a little haywire.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mace, for her part, defended her actions at the airport a few days after it happened in a Charleston press conference, calling the report\u2019s release a \u201cpolitical hit job.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDid I drop an f-bomb? I hope I did,\u201d she said at the time<\/a>. The incident drew harsh criticism from fellow South Carolina Republicans, including Sen. Tim Scott who published a blistering statement<\/a> rebuking her language and treatment of the officials. Sen. Lindsey Graham piled on<\/a>, too.<\/p>\n

Even now, months later, Mace stands by what she did.<\/p>\n

\u201cI get over a thousand death threats a year, and I’m the only one that doesn’t get security when traveling. In fact, the last three times I’ve had an altercation or been accosted has been at an airport, particularly the Charleston airport, because the left has lost their mind,\u201d she told Blue Light News.<\/p>\n

Then, in February, she accused<\/a> her ex-fianc\u00e9 and several of his business partners of serious sexual crimes during a speech on the House floor.<\/a> They have denied the allegations, and Mace has been representing herself in the subsequent litigation, often swapping the campaign trail for the courtroom.<\/p>\n

Controversies aside, ad spending reveals another reason why she\u2019s struggling to break through to the front of the race.<\/p>\n

Mace, shockingly, hasn\u2019t spent a single dollar on television ads at all, according to an AdImpact analysis, despite her healthy fundraising<\/a> throughout the campaign. She\u2019s only dropped $50,000 on digital advertising.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, overall ad spending in the Republican primary has hit nearly $28 million between the candidates\u2019 committees and aligned PACs, nearly $2 million of which has been in negative advertising<\/a> targeting her specifically. Protect Freedom PAC, an outside group aligned with Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, has spent $1.4 million in positive<\/a> ads<\/a> on Mace\u2019s behalf.<\/p>\n

One candidate in particular \u2014 millionaire and political outsider Rom Reddy, who jumped into contention<\/a> at the last minute \u2014 has topped all other candidates and PACs, reaching nearly $6 million in the relatively small state. South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson and Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) are also in the race and spending real money.<\/p>\n

If none of the candidates clear a 50 percent threshold \u2014 a likely scenario with five serious contenders on the ballot \u2014 the two top vote-getters will advance to a one-on-one runoff race, with a second round of voting scheduled for just two weeks later on June 23.<\/p>\n

The weekend after Trump made his endorsement of Evette, Mace said she texted a friend who would understand her predicament: Massie. \u201cI let him know that I didn’t get the endorsement, and we all know why,\u201d she told Blue Light News.<\/p>\n

But Massie had already taken to social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough virtually all Republicans eventually admitted by their votes that it was right to release the Epstein files, only three were brave enough to sign my discharge petition to force that vote. [Lauren] Boebert, [Marjorie Taylor] Greene, and Mace have paid an enormous price for doing the right thing,\u201d he said in a post on X.<\/a> Greene resigned from Congress<\/a> earlier this year after clashes with Trump over Epstein and the economy, and Trump recently called for a primary challenge<\/a> to Boebert after she campaigned with Massie ahead of the Kentucky primary.<\/p>\n

Massie has already hinted that he could make some kind of comeback in 2028<\/a>, whether for his old House seat in Kentucky or another federal office. Mace, should she come up short in the primary, is not so sure.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m not running for Congress again,\u201d Mace said. \u201cI said I would do six years because I believe in term limits, and I made the promise that I would leave Congress after six years, so I won’t be running again.\u201d<\/p>\n

What about a political career outside of Congress? \u201cI\u2019m going to wait and see how Tuesday looks,\u201d she demurred.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nancy Mace thinks she knows why she didn\u2019t get President Donald Trump\u2019s endorsement. The embattled South Carolina House Republican, who\u2019s in the midst of a bruising race for governor, has a long history of bucking \u2014 and then cozying back up to \u2014 Trump. But her leading role in releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23751"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23751\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}