Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) criticized ABC host George Stephanopoulos for asking how she could endorse former President Donald Trump, with the television host noting how Trump had been found “liable for rape.”
Mace said in her appearance on Stephanopoulos’s show that she herself was a victim of rape when she was 16 years old, a story she has discussed in the past in her career as a politician. She then told the host that she would not “sit here on your show” to be asked a question meant to shame her.
“I was asked to speak on 2024 today, NOT my own rape,” Mace wrote on the social media platform X following her appearance on This Week. “I’ve carried this shame for 30 years, a shame George Stephanopolous will never know. I don’t need @gstephanopolous ‘mansplaining’ rape to me or shaming me on national TV for being a survivor of rape.”
Byron York, the Washington Examiner’s chief political correspondent, also took issue with Stephanopoulos and his questions to Mace, describing his “dishonesty” as “striking.” He also noted how the jury found Trump liable for “sexual abuse” instead of rape in the case related to E. Jean Carroll.
“The judge later tried to spin the decision, citing laws that did not apply, to argue that the jury ‘implicitly’ found Trump liable for rape,” York wrote on X. “In the absence of an actual jury finding of rape, the judge guessed that the jury’s decision ‘necessarily implies’ rape. Stephanopoulos, in spite of the jury’s written finding, on 10 occasions said Trump had been found legally liable for rape. Why not just be accurate and say Trump was found liable for sexual abuse?”
Mace also received the backing of her fellow Republican lawmaker Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), who slammed Stephanopoulos’s “absolutely abhorrent behavior.” Boebert added that ABC ought to put the television anchor “on the bench” for his treatment of Mace.
Mace’s Sunday interview was also discussed by the hosts of MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Monday, with co-host Mika Brzezinski accusing Mace of acting like “an eighth grader.” Fellow co-host Joe Scarborough was also critical of Mace for how she said Stephanopoulos was shaming her when Trump had shamed Carroll in the past.
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Mace endorsed Trump earlier this year over then-presidential candidate Nikki Haley. Mace had previously said the former president should not hold office again in the wake of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. In explaining her endorsement, she said that the voters in her district had “moved beyond” Jan. 6 and are instead focused on illegal immigration, a topic Trump has been vocal about.
Trump himself has endorsed Mace in her bid for reelection despite the two feuding in the past on differing issues. Mace is one of several lawmakers rumored to be a possible pick as Trump’s vice presidential candidate for the 2024 election, with the congresswoman herself hinting that she would accept the position should Trump offer it to her.
