The South Carolina governor's race has been thrown into turmoil following revelations of a profanity-laden outburst by Rep. Nancy Mace at Charleston airport.
The incident has sparked a heated exchange between Mace and one of her Republican primary opponents, state AG Alan Wilson.
Wilson has branded Mace a "spoiled brat" who treats law enforcement officers as "servants." This comes at a time when both candidates are vying for the support of voters and President Trump. In August, Mace described herself as "Trump in high heels" and expressed her desire for his endorsement in the governor's race. However, Trump has yet to offer his support to any candidate.
The controversy revolves around an incident on October 30, when Mace berated police officers and TSA agents over expedited security for her flight, following a failed VIP escort. Mace has criticized an internal investigation by the Charleston Airport Authority into the incident, which she described as a "spectacle."
According to the investigation report, there was a previous incident in April where Mace reportedly lost her temper with agents who refused to allow a family member through expedited security. "This is the only airport that gives me st," Mace allegedly complained, as reported by one of the many law enforcement officers interviewed during the investigation.
The New York Post obtained the investigative report through a public documents request. In it, a TSA agent quoted Mace as telling a police officer after the failed October 30 escort, "Im sick of your st, Im tired of having to wait." Another officer described Mace as being "very nasty, very rude," and claimed to have heard her calling police officers "fking idiots" and "fking incompetent," while asserting that she was a "fking representative."
Despite Mace's outburst, the airport was reportedly "not busy at all" at the time of the incident. A TSA agent claimed that Mace was "literally on that phone talking and texting her life away" and "saying rude things" during the interaction.
A veteran TSA officer with 23 years of service at the airport told investigators that they had "never, never had this problem" with any other VIP or dignitary. Mace has since hired a lawyer and threatened to sue the airport over the October incident, but has not yet followed through.
The report also disclosed an April confrontation when agents refused to let Mace bring a family member through expedited security. TSA later allowed her to bring family members with her during screening.
In an interview with The Post, Wilson criticized Mace's behavior, saying, "I thought that the way she acted showed a sense of entitlement [that] she is entitled to special protection, she is entitled to special treatment. When she doesnt get special treatment, she throws a tantrum." He added, "These are public servants, not personal servants."
In response to the report and Wilson's comments, Mace told CNN that the report had been "falsified," without providing any evidence.
She responded to Wilson's "brat" comment by saying, "Imagine being Attorney General and flying 500 miles for the sole purpose of dismissing death threats against a single mom."
Mace has claimed to have received numerous credible death threats and stated that a judge denied bond to a man accused of making online threats against her on Friday. She also claimed that during the April incident, TSA violated its own policy allowing federal officials to bring a guest and separated her from her child.
In a week where she criticized the House Republican leadership in a Washington Post op-ed, Mace has been taking her case to the media. However, her campaign suffered a setback when Austin McCubbin, a consultant to Maces campaign, resigned on December 1, accusing her of abandoning MAGA and trying to "hug the political cactus that is the [Sen.] Rand Paul [and Rep.] Thomas Massie wing of the Party."
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