Vehemently denying allegations that she forced members of her congressional staff to go on late-night liquor runs to stock up her booze-filled parties, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) claims that she’s “not allowed to drink or consume much in the way of alcohol” because of a genetic condition.
“I’m going to live the healthiest that I can be – given the genetic condition I have – and there’s no reason for me to consume or buy alcohol like they were saying, because it would literally kill me,” Mace declared during a Newsmax interview on Tuesday.
Mace’s assertion that she doesn’t drink alcohol comes in response to a searing profile of her in New York magazine this week that portrayed her as an abusive boss whose political and personal life is spiraling out of control, prompting the South Carolina lawmaker to fire back at the “FAKE NEWS” for “running lies” about her.
However, in response to Mace’s vociferous denials about heavy drinking because she claims to be suffering from hemochromatosis, the congresswoman’s former head of communications accused her ex-boss of lying.
“Nancy Mace claiming she doesn’t drink alcohol might be the funniest, most brazen lie she’s told to date,” Natalie Johnson tweeted on Tuesday. “The woman drank so much she’d have interns or junior staff run to Congressional Liquor during the work day so she could imbibe during telephone town halls.”
Reacting to Mace sharing a photo of herself drinking from a mug labeled “NOT TEQUILA” while asserting that she’s prevented “from consuming much alcohol” due to her condition, Johnson posted several photos of the conservative congresswoman with a drink in her hand. “Cheers!” Johnson cheekily added.
On top of that, Mace’s tweet was soon appended with a Community Note from X, which stated that she’d “been photographed multiple times with and/or consuming alcohol over the years, including pictures she herself has shared on her social media.”
Mace, who is battling to stay among the leading candidates in South Carolina’s crowded GOP gubernatorial race, found herself the subject of an absolutely brutal profile by political reporter Jake Lahut this week.
In the article for New York magazine, Lahut – who first reported on Mace’s recent tirade at an airport – pointed out that several cohorts and former staffers had grown increasingly alarmed over the congresswoman’s behavior while recounting her abusive treatment of staff. This also included her crossing ethical and personal boundaries with her congressional workers.
“During her first term, staffers say Mace would command them to bring her liquor after midnight to keep parties going at her home, which is technically an abuse of her office according to House rules,” Lahut reported, adding that one ex-staffer recalled Mace demanding a schedule bring her “bottles of tequila” at two in the morning. Former staffers also alleged that Mace made her aides clean multiple properties she owned.
“Absolutely not, never in either case,” Mace told Newsmax host Todd Starnes on Tuesday, adding that “anyone who knows me, I go to bed very early. I’m almost 50. I go to bed by 8:30 or 9 every night. No one’s been over to my house after midnight.”
Mace, whose poll numbers are fading in the gubernatorial primary as it is almost certain she will not receive Donald Trump’s endorsement, further grumbled about the article’s assertion that she had blown up her chummy relationship with the president by voting to release the files in the Jeffrey Epstein case. At the same time, she continued to deny that she drinks much alcohol.
“I had to come out with a genetic condition that I have. I’ve had it all my life. I’m not allowed to drink or consume much in the way of alcohol. It’s called hemochromatosis,” she declared. “If you do, it’ll destroy your organs, and you’ll die at an early age. And I love life and I love living and I’m going to live the healthiest that I can be – given the genetic condition I have – and there’s no reason for me to consume or buy alcohol like they were saying, because it would literally kill me.”
Her denials, however, were largely met with skepticism online – particularly since she has shared so many photos and videos on social media of her consuming wine, beer and liquor. She’d also admitted to The Atlantic in 2021 that she had a “weakness for margaritas” while revealing her favorite places to grab a “skinny margarita.”
“‘Nancy Mace doesn’t drink alcohol’ said no one who has ever sat in earshot of her at the Capitol Hill Club,” Puck political reporter Peter Hamby observed.
“This is the kind of argument you make to a cop after you’ve been pulled over for erratic driving with a bunch of empties on the floor to try and talk your way out of having to take a breathalyzer test,” Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL), one of Mace’s colleagues in the House, snarked in response to her Newsmax appearance.
Source: independent.co.uk