Anti-LGBTQ+ South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace is once again reframing controversy around her own conduct as political persecution, this time following a profanity-laced confrontation with airport police and TSA agents at Charleston International Airport.
During an interview with a Fox anchor on December 11, she largely dodged a direct question concering the incident, instead opting for a mish-mash of gibberish that lead to pointing a finger at the transgender community to justify her behavior.
“We have to take our security very seriously,” she told Fox’s Maria Bartiromo. “If you’re conservative, if you’re well known, if you have fought the transgender community like I have, exponentially – in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s public assassination – the death threats, the amount of political violence, the celebration of the killing of conservatives, is deeply disturbing.”
The incident originally took place in October, when airport police were assigned to escort Mace to her flight. According to an incident report from the Charleston County Aviation Authority Police Department, obtained by NBC News the following month, a miscommunication about her arrival vehicle led officers to find Mace attempting to enter a TSA checkpoint reserved for crew members. Multiple officers wrote that she responded by cursing at them, calling the department “incompetent,” and saying this was no way to treat “f*cking U.S. Representatives.” In the same report, one officer noted that any other person in the airport acting and talking the way she did would have prompted a law enforcement response.
Rather than acknowledge the behavior described in the report, Mace has disputed the account. In posts on X and in public statements, she downplayed the confrontation, calling the coverage a “political hit job” and asserting that members of Congress routinely use crew access points at airports. She framed the situation as a breakdown in security coordination, not misconduct on her part.
As criticism has mounted, Mace escalated her explanation in subsequent media appearances, accusing airport police and TSA agents of targeting her and suggesting she had been subjected to inappropriate surveillance. In addition to the blame she heaped on the transgender community, she took aim at political opponents for what she described as an increasingly dangerous environment, arguing that it has made her a target. She has denied the accuracy of the police report and publicly said she is considering legal action.
Those claims have been met with sharp pushback, including from within her own party. South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said in a statement that berating airport police and TSA agents was unacceptable, particularly while many federal workers were laboring without pay during a government shutdown. He emphasized that multiple witnesses independently reported similar behavior and rejected the suggestion that the incident was fabricated or politically motivated.
Republican Sens. Tim Scott and Lindsey Graham said separately that law enforcement and TSA agents deserve respect, noting that they have had professional interactions with staff at the same airport. According to the police report, an American Airlines employee who witnessed the encounter later approached officers and expressed disbelief at how Mace spoke to airport personnel.
The episode fits into a familiar pattern for Mace, who has increasingly responded to criticism by casting herself as the victim of conspiracies and redirecting blame toward institutions and marginalized groups. As she continues her campaign for governor, the incident has renewed questions about accountability, mental status and how she exercises power when challenged.
Mace has not apologized to the officers or TSA agents involved. Instead, she has doubled down on a narrative that treats documented criticism as persecution, leaving others to absorb the fallout.