Is SC’s Nancy Mace on Trump’s VP short list? Here’s what she said on ‘Daily Show’
Following her vote to oust former U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Republican U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace remains in the spotlight, recently responding to claims that the GOP is out to get her and to speculations about her becoming Donald Trump’s running mate for vice president.
In a conversation mixing humor with hard-line questions, the South Carolina congresswoman appeared on “The Daily Show” Monday night in an interview with fellow South Carolina native Charlamagne tha God. Mace maintained that Republicans are after her for, in part, her decision to side with ultra-conservatives in voting to remove McCarthy as speaker.
Mace also said that she’s “intrigued” by the idea that she’s reportedly on Trump’s short list for vice president.
“You’ve been described as someone who swings repeatedly between a Trump-centric conservative and an establishment-bucking centrist,” Charlamagne said. “And like you said, you speak out against GOP leadership, but you do vote within the GOP on a majority of issues, so people do want to know, who is Nancy Mace?”
Mace identified herself as a “maverick,” saying that when she agrees with her party, she’ll vote with them, but she’s not afraid to “call them out” when she disagrees.
“I got one of the insiders, one of the establishment insiders, booted out of the speaker’s office and got someone who’s not bought and paid for by Washington,” Mace said of her decision to oust McCarthy. “I voted with the people on that.”
Reports that Mace could potentially become Trump’s running mate, should Trump win the Republican presidential nomination, began circulating this summer.
Mace said that while she hasn’t been asked yet about the No. 2 spot, the idea is “interesting” and “intriguing.”
“It’s a conversation we need to have because I want my little girl to know that she can be president one day, and I want to see Republicans put women on the ticket, vice president and presidential,” Mace said, adding that whether she’s asked or not, her focus will remain on the Lowcountry of South Carolina.
Both Charlamagne and Mace hail from the Lowcountry and attended the same high school, where both their mothers taught at the same time. But neither Charlamagne or Mace ever graduated. Mace dropped out, and Charlamagne was kicked out.
“Are we, like, the poster children for how much high school sucks and you don’t really need it?” Charlamagne said.
“You and I to be on the stage tonight, to be doing ‘The Daily Show’ out of, basically, the same stoplight in South Carolina ... is a huge testament to hard work and values, it’s amazing” Mace said.
