Rep. Nancy Mace is doubling down after an explosive incident at Charleston International Airport led to a police report accusing her of verbally attacking officers. The South Carolina Republican fired back, threatening to sue American Airlines and the airport itself, calling the report “falsified” and insisting she was the real victim.
“SUING FOR DEFAMATION!!” Mace posted on X, adding that she’s already hired a lawyer. The report she’s furious about was filed last Thursday by a member of the Charleston County Aviation Authority. It claims police were waiting for Mace early that morning to escort her to her gate. When she arrived through another entrance, they found her “very irate.”
According to the report, Mace began shouting at the officers and airport staff. “She repeatedly stated we were ‘F—ing Incompetent,’ and ‘this is no way to treat a f—ing US Representative,’” it reads. The document also says Mace accused them of showing favoritism, allegedly saying, “You would never treat Tim Scott like this.”
That mention of her fellow South Carolina Republican, Sen. Tim Scott, didn’t sit well with him. He quickly fired back on Facebook, writing, “For reasons that are unclear, Rep. Nancy Mace invoked my name during and in the aftermath of her situation.”
Scott defended airport police and staff, saying his experiences have “without exception” been positive. “Those who know me know that I do not use profanity – in public or private,” he wrote. “It is never acceptable to berate police officers, airport staff, and TSA agents who are simply doing their jobs, nor is it becoming of a Member of Congress to use such vulgar language when dealing with constituents.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham also weighed in, backing Scott and praising Charleston’s airport staff. “I have had similar personal experiences and have had nothing but positive, respectful engagements with the police officers and TSA agents who provide security for the Charleston Airport,” he said on X.
That didn’t go over well with Mace. She immediately clapped back at both senators online. “Interesting. Lindsey Graham all of a sudden wants to talk about women,” she wrote. “HOLD THE LINE.”
Then she added another post that read, “Let me be very clear for anyone who is ‘confused’: REAL MEN PROTECT WOMEN.”
Mace accused her male colleagues of hypocrisy, writing, “Why are two men with a half dozen personal security guards everywhere they go offended by a woman who has been assaulted for her beliefs and can’t get the same security, and very much cares about her safety in the wake of Charlie Kirk and Donald Trump getting shot? Odd. Fascinating. Weird. Let me say this very clearly: REAL MEN PROTECT WOMEN!”
Since the story broke, first reported by Wired, Mace has gone on a social media blitz, posting over 100 times about the situation. She’s continued attacking airport officials and officers, at one point demanding the resignation of Charleston Airport CEO Elliot Summey while warning of impending legal action.
Mace, who’s also running for governor, insists she did nothing wrong and says she’s standing up for herself after being misrepresented. The controversy has now turned into a full-blown political storm—one that’s pitting her against her own state’s Republican heavyweights.