Mick Mulvaney to headline ALEC event honoring SC Rep. Alan Clemmons
White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney is returning to his home state on Saturday to help honor state Rep. Alan Clemmons, an Horry County Republican who is getting an award from a conservative nonprofit, according to an invitation shared with The State.
Clemmons will be honored with the Thomas Jefferson Freedom Award from the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC.
Clemmons served as the ALEC board national chairman in 2019.
The ceremony will start at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Marina Inn at Grande Dunes in Myrtle Beach, according to the invitation, which also says attire is “business casual.”
“It’s a tremendous honor,” Clemmons told The State. “I have a lot of respect for ALEC. It’s an organization that stands for limited government, federalism and free trade, and I’ve been honored to be a member of that organization my entire legislative career. To be honored with the Thomas Jefferson Freedom Award, the same award that’s rarely given but when it is it’s to people like Ronald Reagan. To be able to share that with people that I hold, leaders that I hold in high esteem is a tremendous honor.”
Clemmons said it’s rewarding to have the former S.C. legislator and congressman return for the event.
“I am honored beyond words,” Clemmons said.
Mulvaney also has been a longtime supporter of ALEC, speaking at engagements, including as the the former director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, when he addressed the ALEC board in 2018.
Mulvaney’s return to South Carolina also comes after reports late last year that President Donald Trump was considering firing him.
Trump was reportedly mulling getting rid of his acting chief of staff after Mulvaney admitted to reporters that Trump withheld aid from Ukraine in exchange, in part, for the country investigating Democrats. The question of whether Trump withheld the aid to push Ukraine to investigate political rival Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, who had ties to a Ukraine gas company, is at the center of Trump’s impeachment proceedings.
Mulvaney later tried to clarify his comments, which he said were misconstrued in the media.
Those reports of Mulvaney’s possible ouster have since subsided for now, along with speculation that Mulvaney might leave the White House anytime soon.
McClatchy DC previously reported that if Mulvaney were forced out of the White House, he would likely take a job in the private sector to make money. But others have rumored he may be looking to make another political run, possibly for a statewide office.
Before 2016, when he was picked to lead the Office of Management and Budget, McClatchy DC reported Mulvaney was weighing a run for governor in 2018.
This story was originally published January 21, 2020 at 2:16 PM.
