During the campaign battles, controversies and an emotional outburst at an Epstein victims hearing, Nancy Mace walks out of the meeting with a teary face. Nancy Mace announces SC governor bid.
Key Recent Developments
- Emotional Hearing VII. Epstein Victims.
Rep. Nancy Mace walked out of a closed-door hearing before the House Oversight Committee, with victims of Jeffrey Epstein, on September 3, 2025, shortly after having a severe panic attack. She wrote of hyperventilation, shaking, and sweating and wrote on X (previously Twitter) that the testimonies were too many to hear because she was a recent survivor herself. She reiterated that she was an empathetic person and committed to survivors regardless of the emotional cost.
- Misidentification of Campus Shooters.
Mace wrongfully identified a man carrying an umbrella as a possible shooter during a panic-induced alert last week, at the University of South Carolina campus. University officials, in turn, would then verify that no shooter exists and that her posting has not been received as effectively as it should have been, which leads to the criticism of her crisis management skills in a social media environment.
- 2026 South Carolina Governoral Race.
In August 2025, Mace officially announced her campaign as governor of South Carolina under the slogan, Gods not done with South Carolina and neither am I. She has an America First platform, including abolishing income tax, school choice, judicial reform, and conservative gender policies.
- Campaign Disaster: Low Speech Attendance.
The low attendance (eight out of her projected 100) at a speech she cancelled last week was a blow to her gubernatorial campaign. Moms for Liberty hosted the event and raised questions on her campaign traction.
The following is more of an in-depth look at the current campaign platform of the Nancy Mace campaign, the political backlash it has elicited, and the Epstein victims hearing she recently hosted:
- Campaign Platform/Messaging.
Core Themes and Goals
Officially beginning her 2026 campaign to become governor in early August 2025, Nancy Mace launched her campaign in Charleston, the birthplace of the Corps of Cadets, at The Citadel; she became the first woman to graduate the Corps of Cadets.
She called herself Trump in high heels, which was an unmistakable reference to MAGA-style politics, and promised to export that ideological orientation to South Carolina.
Her Platform America First highlights:
- Doing away with the state income tax.
- Revamping of the judicial system.
- Advocacy of tough-on-crime.
- Increased school choice and vocational education.
- Making a defense of what she terms biological reality in gender politics.
- Other policy points of focus: implementing forced budget reductions (3-4 percent a year in all state agencies), energy permitting, parental empowerment, and promoting conservative gender policies such as prohibiting transgender youth in sports or limiting their access to school restrooms.
- Political Responses & Competitive Encounter.
Republican competition and the Trump Effect.
Mace is plodding through a crowded GOP primary, challenging Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, Attorney General Alan Wilson, and Rep. Ralph Norman.
The Trump endorsement is still a potent tool of South Carolina Republican politics. Mace, whose Trump in high heels tagline has been used since she announced her candidacy, has also tried to make a stronger appeal to Trump base, having come to terms with Trump after January 6 and receiving his backing in 2024.
Evette has already aired the first TV commercial in the GOP field and also focuses on her Trump affiliations. The primaries are already becoming a contest of both principles and Trump support.
Campaign Setbacks
Another setback that was not anticipated by Mace was when she had to cancel a campaign speech because only eight people turned up–not even half the number that was supposed to attend. Even though this was embarrassing, she mentioned internal polling that she was ahead of the race, especially among Trumps-aligned voters.
Controversies
Her change in LGBTQ+ policies (from moderate positions to blatantly anti-trans rhetoric and labels) has caused significant critique among LGBTQ+ activists, as well as some in the wider political establishment. Dissenters decry her as guilty of hate speech and using extreme language to seek attention.
She also has a defamation case on the books due to accusations leveled by the public towards her against her ex-fiancee, which further adds some legal juice to her campaign story.
- Personal Effect and Broad Importance, Epstein Hearing.
Emotional Response during a closed door hearing.
On September 2, 2025, after an Oversight Committee House hearing with the victims of Jeffrey Epstein, Nancy Mace suffered a panic attack and sweated, hyperventilated, shook and could not breathe, forcing her to leave. Mace shared this emotional response publicly on social media, where she explained how the testimony of the victims impacted her so profoundly, given that she is also a survivor of sexual assault.
Efforts on Mission and Oversight.
The hearing was a continuation of the wider work of the committee, headed by Chairman James Comer and abetted by Speaker Mike Johnson, to examine how the federal government addressed the Epstein case and to demand transparency. The meeting consisted of six victims and occurred during the release of over 33,000 documents, although many had already been publically available.
Mace has always identified herself as a survivor advocate, and she has before employed her own experience to rationalize rape and incest exceptions to abortion laws in South Carolina. Her demonstrative emotional response also gave greater emphasis to the personal burden of her political positions.
Other responses include a call by Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia to release all documentation on the Epstein case, including bipartisan calls for accountability.
Conclusion-
Nancy Mace is going through some of the most chaotic times in her political career. Though her gubernatorial race is more of Trump-inspired populism, tax cuts, judicial reforms, and social conservatism, she has internal issues to overcome: low attendee turnout, social media missteps, and unsparing criticism of her views on LGBTQ+ rights. Meanwhile, her personal departure from the hearing of Epstein victims is used to underscore the weakness of both a representative and a survivor, which places a very personal touch to her role as a politician. Whether such overlapping accounts cement her image as a strong conservative spokesperson or reveal her flaws in her leadership will determine her prospects in the high stakes 2026 South Carolina gubernatorial race.
Also read- House Committee Releases Epstein Case Files
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