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Rep. Nancy Mace, the firebrand South Carolina Republican who is considering a run for governor, made headlines Monday when she gave a highly unusual speech on the U.S. House floor accusing four men—including her former fiancé—of rape, physical abuse, and sexual misconduct.
Speaking for nearly an hour, Mace said she was “going scorched earth” to “call out the cowards who think they can prey on women and get away with it,” providing in detail what she said the men did to her and other victims. Mace said she spoke up because the state’s top prosecutor, Attorney General Alan Wilson, did not take meaningful action after she allegedly alerted investigators. Wilson—who is likely to be Mace’s opponent if she runs for governor of South Carolina in 2026—said the rape allegations were never sent to his office.
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Mace, 47, has long positioned herself as a champion of the safety of women and children. She often shares the story of being molested at a swimming pool when she was 14 and raped when she was 16, leading her to drop out of high school. Mace went on to become the first woman to graduate from the Citadel, a military college, and was elected to Congress in 2021.
But her political career is one marked by defiance and controversy. The Daily Beast reported last year, based on interviews with her former staff, that Mace prioritizes national media exposure to an unusual degree.
Once considered a moderate, Mace has fully embraced President Donald Trump’s agenda, despite him being found liable for sexual abuse. She has been arguably the most vocal figure in the GOP’s crusade against transgender rights, introducing a controversial resolution in November to ban trans women from using women’s restrooms in the Capitol in response to the first openly trans woman being elected to Congress. Mace has since continued to cast anti-trans views on her social media and often uses transphobic slurs, including during a February House committee hearing.
In recent weeks, she has been outspoken about her potential run for governor of South Carolina.
Here’s what to know about Mace.
Airing sexual assault allegations on the House floor
Mace accused her ex-fiancé Patrick Bryant and three other South Carolina men of drugging, raping, and filming women without their consent, as well as sex-trafficking. She did not present evidence to back up her allegations but said she had materials to corroborate them.
Bryant told the Associated Press: “I categorically deny these allegations. I take this matter seriously and will cooperate fully with any necessary legal processes to clear my name.” TIME could not independently verify these allegations. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division has since confirmed the agency has had an active investigation focused on Bryant since December 2023.
Mace said that in November 2023 she “accidentally uncovered some of the most heinous crimes against women imaginable” after finding on Bryant’s phone a video of herself undressed and unaware she was being filmed, along with additional videos and photographs of other women. She accused Bryant of physically assaulting her after she found the contents of his phone. “I still have the mark that Patrick Bryant made on me the night that he assaulted me,” Mace said. “I will wear this mark that he made on me for the rest of my life as a badge of honor.”
She also claimed that Bryant and his business associates drugged her in 2022, and that she was raped during that incident. “I believe that they purposely incapacitated me. Was anyone else there, was it filmed, was it sold on the dark web? I have no idea, but I know what these men do to their victims,” she said.
Mace said she had turned over all the evidence she had against the men to law enforcement in South Carolina, but that Wilson, the state’s attorney general, had failed to act. Wilson rejected Mace’s comments as “categorically false” and added that she “either does not understand or is purposefully mischaracterizing the role of the Attorney General.”
“Our office has not received any reports or requests for assistance from any law enforcement or prosecution agencies regarding these matters,” his office said in a statement. “The Attorney General and members of his office have had no role and no knowledge of these allegations until her public statements.”
She once claimed to be an LGBTQ+ ally
Mace’s views on the LGBTQ+ community appear to have changed since she first took office.
In an interview with the Washington Examiner in 2021, she said: “I strongly support LGBTQ rights and equality … no one should be discriminated against.” She added that she has “friends and family that identify as LGBTQ” and that “understanding how they feel and how they’ve been treated is important.” In a 2023 interview with CBS News, Mace said “I’m pro-transgender rights” and expressed support for youth who are socially transitioning genders.
“If they wanna take on a different pronoun or a different gender identity or grow their hair out, or wear a dress or wear pants, or do those things as a minor—those are all things that I think most people would support. Be who you want to be, but don’t make permanent changes as a child,” Mace said, noting that she supports bans on gender-affirming care for transgender youth.
Since November, Mace has been one of the most vocal Republican critics of policies aimed at expanding rights for transgender people. She has faced criticism for misgendering and making derogatory comments about transgender individuals, including a recent exchange during a House Oversight Committee hearing where she repeatedly used a transphobic slur. Despite the criticism, Mace doubled down, posting clips of the exchange on social media and defending her remarks as part of a broader effort to resist what she sees as the overreach of the left.
Mace’s hardline stance on transgender rights extends to legislation she has championed, such as her proposal to ban trans women from using women’s restrooms and changing rooms in the Capitol and House office buildings. The policy, which was part of a broader conservative push, was not initially included in the House rules package for the 118th Congress but found its way into the 119th after Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, included it in his policies. Mace has framed her anti-trans rhetoric as an effort to protect women and children, though her opponents accuse her of stoking division and perpetuating harmful myths about the transgender community.
She voted to oust the former House Speaker
Mace was one of eight House Republicans who voted to oust Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in October 2023 after he struck a deal with Democrats to pass a stopgap spending bill and avoid a government shutdown. It was the first time in history that the House had voted to remove a Speaker.
Mace faced sharp criticism for her vote. She said she voted to oust McCarthy over a “perceived lack of trust,” claiming that he didn’t honor commitments regarding balanced budget amendments and didn’t support two women’s related bills she’d worked on. “For me, this was a vote of principle and a vote of conscience,” Mace said. “I could not, in good conscience, continue to support a speaker who was unwilling to tell the truth. To me, you have to have honesty and truth, especially [given] how divisive this country is. We had a guy who was telling Conservatives one thing, moderates another, and Democrats something else. This is not the way to lead.”
Mace made headlines for wearing a red “A” on her shirt after leaving the vote, claiming she felt “demonized” for her choice, in reference to The Scarlet Letter, a 19th century novel in which the protagonist was condemned to wear a red “A” after becoming pregnant out of wedlock.
Considering a run for governor
Mace told the AP in January that she is “seriously considering” a gubernatorial run in 2026 and will make a final decision in the coming weeks. She added that she plans to ask for Trump’s support, after he backed her in last year’s GOP primary race.
“Trump is going to need people in governor seats in ’26,” Mace told the AP. “It’s not going to be an easy election cycle for us. In ’26, we need people who can win, win big, and implement his agenda, and I will do that. I’ve been doing it. I have a great relationship with him, and I will be asking him for his support statewide in South Carolina.” Wilson, the state Attorney General, has also said he is considering a run for governor.
Mace currently represents South Carolina’s only swing district, which includes the Charleston area.
