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3 Times Nancy Mace Went Against Trump

Maceopedia ·

3 Times Nancy Mace Went Against Trump

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-SC-01, has spent most of her career aligned with President Trump. She calls herself "Trump in high heels." That alignment is exactly what makes the exceptions notable, because they are departures from her own brand and not from a record of opposition.

At a handful of pivotal moments she has broken with the president publicly and on the record. Here are three of the most documented, each in her own words. (For context on where she stands now: she ran for South Carolina governor in 2026 and lost the June 9, 2026 Republican primary, finishing fifth. She is not currently on a ballot.)

1. January 2021: she certified the election and said his legacy was "wiped out"

On January 6 and 7, 2021, the House rejected Republican objections to the Electoral College count. The Arizona objection failed 121 to 303 on January 6, and the Pennsylvania objection failed 138 to 282 on January 7. Mace voted to certify Joe Biden's win. She was the only member of South Carolina's House Republican delegation who did not join an objection.

In an op-ed the day of the riot she wrote: "Today, I will solemnly cast my vote to certify the results of the Electoral College." Her stated position was that Congress lacks the authority to overturn the Electoral College.

Live on CBS from her locked-down Cannon office on January 6, 2021, she said: "I'm begging the president to get off Twitter and to get on TV to calm these people down, to ask them to follow the rule of law and to ask them to go home. This is urgent."

On CNN on January 7, 2021, she said Trump's "entire legacy was wiped out yesterday," and that the riot happened because "millions of people across the country were misled by Republicans and by the administration that members of Congress could overturn and usurp the Electoral College in a single vote," which she called "simply not true." She said the responsibility ran "from the president on down to my colleagues here in Congress."

On Fox News with Neil Cavuto on January 13, 2021, asked whether Trump had a future in the GOP, she answered: "I do not." She added: "I don't know how you go forward and defend the indefensible," and said the party's principles would have to be carried forward "without his support, his brand or his name" because "it's tarnished."

The record on that break is not one-sided, and it matters that it is stated fully. That same day, January 13, 2021, Mace voted against the second impeachment of Trump. She cited the rushed process and the lack of a Judiciary Committee referral, while saying that she held him accountable for the events of January 6. In other words, she condemned him in public but did not vote to impeach him.

Nancy Mace on CNN, January 7, 2021: His entire legacy was wiped out yesterday.

Nancy Mace on CNN, January 7, 2021.

Nancy Mace on Fox News, January 13, 2021: I don't know how you go forward and defend the indefensible.

Nancy Mace on Fox News with Neil Cavuto, January 13, 2021.

2. 2025 to 2026: the Epstein files, and the endorsement it cost her

On September 2, 2025, Mace signed Discharge Petition No. 9 (for H.Res. 581 in the 119th Congress) to force a House vote releasing the Epstein files. She was one of only four Republicans to sign, alongside Thomas Massie, Lauren Boebert, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. She is listed as a signer on the official U.S. House Clerk record, dated September 2, 2025.

In November 2025, reporting from Axios, The New York Times, and Newsweek described Trump's team pressuring Mace and Boebert to withdraw their signatures. Neither did. Trump publicly called the matter a "hoax."

On November 18, 2025, the Epstein Files Transparency Act passed the House 427 to 1, and Trump signed it the next day after reversing his position. The act of defiance here was signing the discharge petition to force the issue against his wishes. The near-unanimous final vote came only after the president had already reversed course, so the final tally is not itself the break.

In late May 2026, Trump gave his endorsement in the South Carolina governor's race to Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, passing over Mace. Mace had made her Epstein vote part of that story in her own posts:

On CNN on June 7, 2026, she said: "If the price of an endorsement was to not vote to release the Epstein files, that is a price I am unwilling to pay." On June 9, 2026, she lost the South Carolina governor primary, finishing fifth. In her concession, per reporting, she said she "voted to release the Epstein files and lost some support for that."

Nancy Mace on X, May 30, 2026: I voted to release the Epstein files. NO REGRETS.

Nancy Mace on X, May 30, 2026.

3. September 1, 2026: three points of daylight in one CNN interview

Mace came on CNN's The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer on September 1, 2026, initially to react to Army Secretary Dan Driscoll's resignation, which he submitted on August 31, 2026 after tension with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Over roughly seven minutes she put daylight between herself and the president on three of his signature issues. She did not name Trump as a villain: her words targeted process and, in her phrasing, "the people." The segment is CNN's and is linked in Sources below.

Maceopedia edited those three exchanges into a single captioned clip:

Maceopedia edit of the September 1, 2026 CNN segment (compilation and captions added); the underlying footage and reporting are CNN's. Watch the full CNN segment: The Situation Room, Sept 1, 2026 →

The first was the Iran war and the War Powers Act. Trump's war with Iran was roughly six months old. Mace said: "The grace period is over. We have offered past presidents just over 90 days to come to Congress to declare war or end it, and that needs to happen sooner, rather than later, so that we can adhere to the War Powers Act. That's what needs to happen. And if the War Powers Act were to come up today, I would vote for it." That last line reflects a shift: in March 2026 she had voted no on a resolution to force Trump to stand down in Iran.

Nancy Mace on CNN, September 1, 2026: If the War Powers Act were to come up today, I would vote for it.

The second was affordability. Trump has repeatedly dismissed voter anxiety over affordability as a Democratic "con job." Asked what she tells South Carolinians about gas prices, Mace said: "affordability is not the case that's been made by either Republicans or Democrats. I think it's one of the primary reasons why you're going to see a bloodbath within both parties on the ballot, both in their primaries and in the general election in November."

Nancy Mace on CNN, September 1, 2026: Affordability is not the case that has been made by either Republicans or Democrats.

The third was data centers. Blitzer read Trump's own line that communities that reject data centers will "end up being backwards and poor." Mace answered: "It's up to the people to decide... They don't want the government to take their land for a data center that's going to employ 20 people, hurt the environment, and steal their property. China's putting them in the ocean. Elon wants them in outer space. There are places here on the planet, here in the United States that wouldn't use eminent domain. A.I. is a national security issue. Data centers are a national security issue, but we can handle it, I think, in a commonsense way, where we aren't taking people's property... Data centers will be on the ballot in November."

Nancy Mace on CNN, September 1, 2026: China is putting them in the ocean. Elon wants them in outer space.

Not the first time

The pattern predates all of this, and it is worth noting without overstating it. In February 2022, after Trump called her "an absolutely terrible candidate" who had been "very disloyal" and endorsed her primary challenger Katie Arrington, Mace refused to stand down. She filmed a video outside Trump Tower touting her past support for him, and she went on to beat Trump's pick in the June 2022 primary. In July 2026 she endorsed Rep. Ralph Norman for the U.S. Senate over Trump's preferred candidate. To be precise, the 2022 Trump Tower video was Mace defending her own record of support, not attacking Trump. The break there is that she defied his endorsement of her opponent and won anyway.

Why it matters

Three breaks with the leader of her own party, across five years, all on the record and in her own words: the 2021 vote to certify, the Epstein files petition that helped cost her Trump's endorsement, and three points of policy daylight in a single CNN interview. Mace has spent 2026 alternately courting and needling the president. This entry is a catalog of the needling, dated and sourced. Readers can judge.

Sources and related coverage

Reporting credited to CNN, CBS News, Fox News, The Hill, CNBC, and the U.S. House Clerk record. Mace's own X posts are linked above.