Mace Accused Tara Palmeri of 'Rape Shaming.' She Then Said the Only Trump Accuser She Could Name Was a 'Porn Star' Who 'Wasn't Accusing Him of Rape.'

Reporting relied on: Tara Palmeri Show, "Nancy Mace: UNCUT" (YouTube, September 7, 2026), which compiled footage from the September 1, 2026 interview that "didn't make the cut." Every quotation below is Mace's own, transcribed from the uncut video.

On September 7, 2026, journalist Tara Palmeri published an uncut version of her September 1 interview with Rep. Nancy Mace, featuring what she called "wilder takes" that did not appear in the original broadcast. Two exchanges in particular stand out. In the first, Mace accused Palmeri of "rape shaming" for asking how Mace can reconcile her advocacy for assault survivors with her support for a man dozens of women have accused of sexual misconduct. In the second, asked if she believes the women who accused Donald Trump of rape, Mace described the one accuser she could identify as a "porn star" who "wasn't accusing him of rape" and said she could not remember the woman's name. E. Jean Carroll accused Trump of rape. In 2023, a jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse; the presiding judge noted the conduct "fell within the definition of rape in common parlance." Carroll was awarded $88.3 million across two verdicts.

"Rape shaming"

Palmeri opened with a straightforward question:

Palmeri: You have made advocacy for abused women deeply personal. And you've remained loyal to a man who numerous women have accused of sexual misconduct. So how do those two things coexist for you?

Mace's response:

Mace: I think Tara, it's really ugly to rape shame a woman for her political choices. Like I am a survivor. I believe very deeply in that. But I've been on the White House lawn when President Trump was signing a bill to protect women that Melania was championing just last year. He sent a lot to protect women, but to take my story as a survivor, which has been deeply traumatic for me for a very long time. And to throw it in my face and say, well, you support this man is really kind of ugly.

Palmeri responded that she was not asking about Mace's own experience: "It's not that's not what I'm doing. I'm asking you about." Mace replied:

Mace: It's what I would define Tara as rape shaming. And I think that's very disgusting.

Palmeri pushed back directly: "I'm not rape shaming you. I'm asking you about your advocacy and what you care about and how that squares with supporting someone." She noted she had covered the Jeffrey Epstein story since 2019 and traveled with accuser Virginia Giuffre. Mace did not retract the characterization.

Palmeri's editorial framing in the video: "This is so mind-bending, no one can make sense of it."

The phrase "rape shaming" typically refers to conduct that discourages rape victims from reporting or speaking about their experiences, or that blames them for what happened. Palmeri's question asked about Mace's policy positions, not about Mace's personal experience. Mace did not explain what element of the question she considered shaming.

"Wasn't it like a porn star or something?"

Toward the end of the uncut segment, Palmeri asked whether Mace believes the women who have accused Trump of sexual misconduct:

Palmeri: Do you believe the women that came out against President Trump? There's so many of them, more than 20.

Mace: I don't know all the 20 names. I know that there was, if you said the name, I might recognize it, but I don't know all the stories. I know one of them, I think it was the, wasn't it like a porn star or something? I can't remember her name right now. She wasn't accusing him of rape.

Mace continued with a comparison to false stories she said had been written about her, effectively pivoting off the question.

What the record shows: The woman Mace appeared to be describing was Stormy Daniels, the adult film actress whose alleged 2006 sexual encounter with Trump was the subject of a hush money payment and a subsequent federal investigation and 2024 New York criminal trial. Daniels did not allege rape.

However, there is a Trump accuser who did allege rape and who won in court. E. Jean Carroll, a writer, accused Trump of raping her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the mid-1990s. A jury in May 2023 found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation, awarding Carroll $5 million in damages. Judge Lewis Kaplan wrote in a ruling that "the finding that Ms. Carroll failed to prove that she was 'raped' within the meaning of the New York Penal Law does not mean that she failed to prove that Mr. Trump 'raped' her as many people commonly understand the word 'rape.'" In January 2024, a second jury awarded Carroll $83.3 million in additional damages for Trump's subsequent defamatory statements about her.

Carroll is one of more than 20 women who have publicly alleged sexual misconduct by Trump. Mace described the only accuser she could name as someone who was not alleging rape. The accuser she appeared to have in mind was not alleging rape. The accuser who was alleging rape did not appear to come to mind.

Palmeri's editorial note after the exchange: "She conflated them with the one woman who led to President Trump's conviction. And it wasn't for rape. I mean, was she living under a rock this whole time?"

Context

Mace has made her own history as a rape survivor central to her public identity since her 2020 congressional campaign. In the same September 1 interview, she told Palmeri: "A thousand percent [it shaped me]... I never got justice when I was 16. I never sought justice."

She has also said in the same interview that she would not recommend women come forward about sexual assault because "you will not get justice. You will not get an investigation, no matter how much evidence you give." (Maceopedia documented that statement separately: "I don't know that I would recommend women come forward.")

The pattern across both exchanges: Mace invokes her own survivor identity to deflect or reframe questions about her support for Trump, while showing limited awareness of the documented record of accusations against him.

Watch

The uncut interview is published on the Tara Palmeri Show YouTube channel (September 7, 2026). The September 1 interview on which it is based is available at:

Sources

• Tara Palmeri Show, "Nancy Mace: UNCUT," YouTube, September 7, 2026 (primary source for both exchanges; Palmeri's editorial narration quoted verbatim)
• Tara Palmeri Show, "MACE ON BEING MACE," YouTube, September 1, 2026 (original full interview)
• The Tara Palmeri Show newsletter: tarapalmeri.com
• E. Jean Carroll jury verdict, May 2023: New York Times, "Jury Finds Trump Liable for Sexual Abuse" (May 9, 2023)
• Judge Kaplan ruling on "rape" definition: United States District Court, S.D.N.Y., Carroll v. Trump, No. 22-CV-10016 (Aug. 7, 2023)
• Carroll second verdict, January 2024: AP, "Jury awards E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million in damages from Trump" (Jan. 26, 2024)
• Stormy Daniels and Trump criminal case: AP, "Trump convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records" (May 30, 2024)
• Related Maceopedia coverage: "I don't know that I would recommend women come forward" and "I was 16 years old and was assaulted"

This dispatch reports on-camera statements Mace made in a published interview about public figures and matters of public concern. Quotations are verbatim from the Tara Palmeri Show's published footage. E. Jean Carroll's civil case is final. The New York criminal case against Trump and the 2024 civil damages award are matters of public record. Maceopedia does not adjudicate credibility of any accuser and takes no position on any pending matter.