Newsmax has become something of a fan of Republican Rep. Nancy Mace, particularly after her hard-right turn around the 2024 election, making several appearances on its TV channel. For instance:
- Rep. Mace to Newsmax: GOP Can Win on Abortion
- Rep. Mace to Newsmax: GOP Gets Unfair Media Coverage on Women’s Issues
- Rep. Mace to Newsmax: Trans Military Policy Is ‘Hypocrisy’
Newsmax also made something of a big deal out of an alleged involving Mace and a person in a crowd at a reception at the Capitol. A Dec. 11 wire article stated that “Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., said she was attacked in the Capitol by an activist angry over a bill she introduced aimed at blocking the chamber’s first openly transgender member from using women’s bathrooms. The Capitol Police said they arrested the attacker after the Tuesday incident.” Another wire article that day stated that “James McIntyre, 33, of Chicago, shook Mace’s hand in an ‘exaggerated, aggressive” manner after approaching the South Carolina Republican in the Rayburn House Office Building on Tuesday evening, according to a police affidavit.” The article also noted that Mace was very much playing the victim, claiming she was “physically accosted” in the alleged incident, quoting her as saying “I’m going to be fine just as soon as the pain and soreness subside.” A Dec. 12 article by Nicole Weatherholtz found a Democratic senator to help with the narrative:
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., condemned Tuesday night’s attack on Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., calling it “unacceptable” to physically assault those with differing opinions.
“I condemn this attack — one that’s part of an emerging national conversation: Condoning, celebrating, or rationalizing the attack or execution of somebody with differing views,” Fetterman wrote in a post on X Wednesday afternoon.
“Apparently, it’s an open season on anyone if you disagree with them,” he added. “It’s unacceptable.”
[…]“I was physically accosted at the Capitol tonight by a pro-tr*ns man,” Mace wrote. “One new brace for my wrist and some ice for my arm, and it’ll heal just fine.”
“The Capitol police arrested the guy,” she said. “Your tr*ns violence and threats on my life will only make me double down.”
In a later post, Mace wrote, “All the violence and threats keep proving our point. Women deserve to be safe.”
But questions have been raised about Mace’s version of events by an eyewitness. NBC News reported:
Elliott Hinkle, 31, who founded Unicorn Solutions and advocates for child welfare and LGBTQ youths, said Mace, R-S.C., who co-chairs the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth, spoke at an event celebrating 25 years of the Foster Care Independence Act, held in the Rayburn Building with at least 50 attendees. Hinkle said Mace said in her remarks that she looked forward to working with the advocates who were present and that James McIntyre, 33, of Illinois, approached her after she spoke.
“I think James took that seriously,” Hinkle said, describing how they and others watched McIntyre, who co-founded Foster Care Alumni of America’s Illinois chapter, approach Mace after she spoke and reached out his hand.
“They shake hands, and James says, ‘Trans youth are also foster youth, and they need your support.’ And then sat down,” Hinkle said.
Shortly after Mace left with a congressional staffer, Hinkle said, the staffer came back into the room and approached McIntyre, asking for his name and the message he had for Mace.
Several minutes later, Hinkle said, U.S. Capitol Police began arriving outside the event. Capitol Police said in Tuesday’s statement that officers later arrested McIntyre after an investigative interview.
“I watched that interaction happen, and I saw a handshake and a conversation and a very normal thing for an advocate to come to D.C. and do,” Hinkle said. “She didn’t even seem to have, like, that big of a reaction to him. She just sort of made, like, almost like a tiny shock face, and then she left the room.”
A week later, Newsmax had Mace on one of its TV shows — and apparently didn’t ask her about the fact that her story was contradicted. Instead, her job was to stay on message in attacking ABC over a $15 mllion settlement with Donald Trump over a statement regarding his sexual assault of E. Jean Carroll; Mace has a grudge against ABC because host George Stephanopoulos once question why Mace supports Trump as a rape survivor herself.
As a right-wing outlet, narrative is more important than facts, so questions about Mace’s narrative will be ignored by Newsmax.