Rep. Nancy Mace bashes ABC anchor for rape-shaming her over Trump support in fiery interview
Rep. Nancy Mace scolded ABC host George Stephanopoulos and accused him of rape-shaming her during a fiery exchange about allegations against former President Donald Trump.
Stephanopoulos grilled Mace (R-SC) about how she could back Trump despite a jury finding him liable for sexual assault against advice columnist E. Jean Carroll, who accused him of raping her.
“I was raped at the age of 16. And any rape victim will tell you I’ve lived for 30 years with an incredible amount of shame over being raped,” Mace began on ABC’s “This Week.”
“It’s a shame that you will never feel, George. And I’m not going to sit here on your show and be asked a question meant to shame me about another potential rape victim. I’m not gonna do that.”
Stephanopoulos countered that “it’s actually not about shaming you,” and said he was trying to understand why she endorsed Trump despite the allegations against him.
Trump, who backed Mace’s primary rival back in the 2022 midterms, endorsed Mace on Saturday in her reelection bid. She backed him ahead of the South Carolina primary last month.
The Republican congresswoman then took aim at some of Carroll’s public remarks about her rape allegations and claimed she joked about it.
“E. Jean Carroll joked about all the money she’s going to get and made a mockery out of this case,” Mace went on.
“It makes it harder for other women to come forward when another woman has made a mockery of it.”
Mace has spoken out about her experiences as a rape survivor repeatedly, including back when she served in the South Carolina state legislature and fought for a rape exemption in the state’s abortion law.
Trump has strenuously denied Carroll’s accusations. Late last week, he posted a $91.63 million bond so that he could appeal the judgment.
On Saturday, Trump once against denied her allegations, putting himself at risk of another defamation suit from Carroll.
“Ninety-one million based on false accusations made about me by a woman that I knew nothing about, didn’t know, never heard of, I know nothing about her,” Trump grumbled to a crowd in Georgia.
Mace, who had been vocally critical of Trump in the immediate aftermath of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, stressed that it was a civil case, not a criminal one which is subject to a much higher burden of proof.
“They didn’t even input all the evidence into the civil case,” Mace said.
She repeatedly bashed Stephanopoulos for “shaming” her by asking her the questions about her about-face on Trump.
“You can repeat that again and again and again and again,” Stephanopoulos shot back. “I’ve done nothing to shame you.”
“I find it offensive that as a rape victim you’re trying to shame me for my political choices and I’ve said again, repeatedly, E. Jean Carroll has made a mockery out of rape by joking about it,” Mace said.
Mace also defended her decision to back Trump despite the ransacking of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
“I listened to my voters in South Carolina and they’ve moved beyond January 6th,” Mace said.
