Part of: The 2026 South Carolina Senate Special Election
Lawler rips Mace over 'grotesque' Graham succession post
The Hill reports that Rep. Mike Lawler publicly tore into Nancy Mace over the Godfather Part III clip she posted after Lindsey Graham's death, replying on X that 'literally no one is pulling you back in,' calling the post 'grotesque' and 'vile,' and declaring her 'completely unfit to serve.' The piece notes Mace is expected to poll a Senate primary bid this week, with a person familiar with her thinking summing up her mindset to The Hill as 'YOLO.'
Ryan Mancini ·
Reported by Ryan Mancini at The Hill.
This is the first on-the-record Republican colleague, by name and on his own account, saying what the anonymous Trump officials were saying through Axios. After Mace posted the "Godfather Part III" clip of Michael Corleone's "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in" line the morning Graham's death was announced, Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) replied directly on X:
"Literally no one is pulling you back in. This post is grotesque. Taking glee over the potential of becoming a Senator because of a vacancy created by the sudden death of your colleague is vile. Completely unfit to serve."
Rep. Mike Lawler on X, July 12, 2026
The contrast Lawler set up was deliberate. In a separate post the same day he memorialized Graham, whom he first met in 2008 as an intern for Sen. John McCain, writing that Graham "was gracious, kind, and funny" and remembering him as the life of the party at a dinner with senators and colleagues last year.
The Hill pairs Lawler's rebuke with where Mace's actual bid stood: she is expected to conduct polling this week to measure her strength in a primary race to replace Graham, and when The Hill asked a person familiar with her thinking whether she would run, the answer was one word: "YOLO."
The piece also carries Mace's own tribute posts, in which she said South Carolina "lost a giant last night" and that Graham "gave everything he had to this state and this country, from the Air Force to the United States Senate." The Godfather clip went up separately, alongside those condolences.
The Hill lays out the calendar that makes the timing so compressed: filing for the special primary runs July 21 to 28, the special primary is Aug. 11 with a runoff if needed on Aug. 25, and Gov. Henry McMaster separately appoints an interim senator to serve through Jan. 3. Trump has already said he recommended Graham's sister, Darline Graham Nordone, for the interim seat. Mace, who took 12 percent and fifth place in last month's governor primary, is otherwise set to leave Congress in January.
On Maceopedia
- Hours after Graham's death, Mace is already talking about his seat
- Trump allies say they can "block Rep. Nancy Mace" from Graham seat appointment
- Mace's Graham-seat media tour: how her answer shifted across one Sunday
Sources & related coverage
- The Hill: Lawler rips Mace over 'grotesque' Graham succession post
- Lawler's post itself: @lawler4ny on X
- The anonymous version of the same pushback: Mediaite and AlterNet
- The commentary take: Jezebel
Read it: The Hill ->
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July 13, 2026 · DispatchTrump Team Reportedly Irate Over Nancy Mace Floating Her Name as a Graham Replacement: 'All We Want is a Republican Who is Sane'
Mediaite reports that the Trump White House fumed as Nancy Mace touted herself as a candidate for Lindsey Graham's Senate seat hours after his death, posting the Godfather Part III 'they pull me back in' line the morning the news broke. One Trump official told Axios her move was 'in poor taste, even for Mace'; another said they would 'drop $2 million on her head' in a runoff. Trump instead recommended Graham's sister, Darline Graham Nordone, as interim senator, with Sen. Tim Scott backing the pick.
July 13, 2026 · Dispatch"It may have ended my political career": Nancy Mace to Chris Cuomo
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August 23, 2026 · DispatchNancy Mace's Top 5 Political Failures: dead last for governor, the Speaker she toppled for nothing, and one law in nine years, a post office
A catalog of the record. Across nine years in office Nancy Mace built a national brand and almost no results to match it. She finished dead last, fifth of five, in the 2026 Republican primary for governor. She helped throw out a sitting Speaker of the House and got a more MAGA Speaker, three weeks of paralysis, and a revenge primary for her trouble. She lost to Lindsey Graham the one time she ran against him, in 2014, then talked herself out of his seat in 2026 after polling at 10 percent. Of the 192 bills she has sponsored, the only ones enacted rename post offices. And the Trump endorsement she remade her whole career to win went, twice, to her opponents. Every figure and quote below is public and dated.