South Carolina Republican Nancy Mace faced accusations of going too far on Wednesday as her feud with Minnesota Democrat Ilhan Omar spiraled into personal insults and attacks.
The dispute erupted earlier this week after Mace introduced a resolution to censure Omar over her response to the September 10 assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
“We’re filing a resolution to strip @Ilhan of her committee assignments after her disgraceful remarks on Charlie Kirk’s assassination,” Mace wrote Monday on X.
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Omar, in an interview with Zeteo, had called Kirk’s death “really mortifying” and added, “All I could think about was his wife, his children.” She also criticized some of Kirk’s past remarks. Mace claimed Omar “smeared Charlie Kirk and implied he was to blame for his own murder.”
Omar swiftly denied the accusation. “Fun fact: Nancy Mace is trying to censure me over comments I never said,” she wrote. “Her research does not contain a single quote from me because she couldn’t find any. Unlike her, I have routinely condemned political violence, no matter the political ideology. This is all an attempt to push a false story so she can fundraise and boost her run for Governor.”
Mace escalated the exchange with a sharp retort: “If you celebrate murder, maybe Somalia can take you back.” Omar, who fled Somalia as a child, responded, “I know you aren’t well or smart, but I hope someone can explain to you that there isn’t a correlation between my committee assignments and deportation.”
Mace pressed on. “We would love to see you deported back to Somalia next,” she wrote. Omar countered: “Would love to see you get the help you need next. You belong in rehab, not Congress.”
The back-and-forth grew even more heated when Mace replied to an earlier Omar post about traveling to Somalia. “Please take your brother-in-law with you and stay there. Signed, The American People,” Mace wrote.
By Wednesday, Mace defended her attacks in a statement to Fox News. “Omar should be ashamed of herself. Omar can throw insults all day, but it won’t save her from accountability. She crossed the line, and we’re not letting her get away with it. Go back to Somalia.”
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Omar’s office released its own statement to The Intercept, insisting she had condemned Kirk’s murder. “She explicitly expressed her sympathies and prayers to his wife and children,” a spokesperson said.
The assassination of Charlie Kirk has sparked tributes from across the political spectrum, with many offering prayers for his wife and two young children.