South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace, a Republican, complained on Friday about the purported use of dehumanizing language from Democrats who have criticized her—but just hours before Mace repeatedly used a bigoted, anti-trans slur.
Mace appeared on CNN to discuss the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who spent much of his career promoting hatred of transgender people. Mace recently introduced a resolution to allow Kirk to lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda.
“I have never called one of my colleagues the kind of names that we’ve been called,” Mace said. “I’ve never dehumanized my colleagues.”
But on Thursday, while speaking to reporters about the shooting, Mace said, “It sounds like the shooter was a tranny, or pro-tranny,” using a derogatory slur for a transgender person.
GLAAD notes, “When used in a derogatory way, ‘tr*nny’ is recognized as one of the most extreme slurs for a trans person, similar to other extreme slurs for other historically marginalized groups.”
Mace has been in the news most often over the last two years for repeatedly attacking the transgender community, arguing they deserve fewer human rights than other Americans.
Last November, after Sarah McBride won her Delaware election and was set to become the first openly transgender member of the House, Mace introduced legislation meant to segregate bathrooms in the Capitol. Her bill would require the House sergeant-at-arms to police bathrooms to prevent transgender members from using bathrooms for the gender they identify with.
Democratic Rep. Sarah McBride of Delaware arrives in the House Chamber before President Donald Trump arrives to address a joint session of Congress at the Capitol on March 4.
House Speaker Mike Johnson later gave in and mandated segregation of Capitol bathroom facilities.
Following that episode, Mace and fellow Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado were widely derided in January after they chose to jointly patrol the Capitol bathrooms, suspecting that “a guy” was using the women’s restroom. The “guy” was never discovered.
Mace has continued to brand herself as a crusader against transgender rights. She has sold bathroom-themed merchandise as campaign materials and promoted it, writing, “The Left wants to NORMALIZE balls in women’s stalls.”
During a House Oversight Committee hearing in January, Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas criticized Mace for repeatedly “saying ‘trans, trans, trans’ so that people will feel threatened.” In response, Mace threatened, “If you want to take it outside, we can do that.”
Contrary to Mace’s characterization of herself and Democrats during her CNN appearance, she has been a key actor in promoting dehumanization and pushing for violence. Mace was doing precisely what Kirk spent his life in the public eye pushing conservative Republicans to do: Be hateful.
