"TMI": GOP Rep. Nancy Mace tells prayer breakfast audience she turned down sex to be there
At a Christian prayer breakfast hosted by Sen. Tim Scott, Mace joked about turning down sex with her then-fiancé to attend, saying 'a little TMI' after the punchline. Conservative commentators expressed outrage at the impropriety; the story revealed Mace's pattern of saying attention-grabbing, self-undermining things in public settings.
Staff ·

"No, baby, we don't got time for that this morning. I got to get to the prayer breakfast."
, Rep. Nancy Mace, to her then-fiancé, as recounted to the prayer breakfast audience
Salon reported on remarks Mace delivered at a Christian prayer breakfast hosted by Sen. Tim Scott in July 2023. Speaking to an audience gathered for a religious observance, Mace recounted a scene from that morning in which her then-fiancé Patrick Bryant attempted to initiate sex before she left for the event:
"Patrick, my fiancé, tried to pull me by my waist over this morning in bed."
After describing her refusal, she added:
"I know he can wait. He's got, we got, I'll see him later tonight."
Mace then acknowledged, "a little TMI", too much information, after the punchline landed.
Conservative commentators, including figures who had been political allies, expressed public dismay at the mismatch between the setting and the content of the remarks. Newsweek covered the backlash from the right, noting that the comments "upsets conservatives." Rolling Stone ran parallel coverage the same day.
The prayer breakfast moment became part of a broader pattern documented across multiple outlets: Mace repeatedly making public comments about her personal and romantic life in settings where they were unexpected, drawing attention that often overshadowed her legislative activity.
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