Rep. Nancy Mace Says Split With Trump Over Epstein Files May Have Hurt Her Political Career

Rep. Nancy Mace said Monday that her decision to back legislation releasing Justice Department files on Jeffrey Epstein may have ended her political career. “It may have ended my political career,” she told NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo.

Mace and other House Republicans distanced themselves from the Trump administration last year to support the Epstein Files Transparency Act. She finished fifth in South Carolina’s GOP gubernatorial primary last month in the race to succeed term-limited Gov. Henry McMaster.

Mace is weighing a return to Congress after the death of Sen. Lindsey Graham. Gov. McMaster appointed Graham’s sister, Darline Graham Nordone, to fill the Senate seat for the remainder of the term. A special GOP primary is set for August to choose the nominee for the seat that begins in January.

Mace called Nordone’s appointment historic as the first female U.S. senator from South Carolina. She criticized other Republicans who quickly announced Senate campaigns, saying it was too soon. Shortly after Graham’s death was announced Sunday, Mace posted on social media the line “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in” from The Godfather Part III.

Rep. Mike Lawler called the post grotesque and said it showed glee over a vacancy created by a colleague’s death.