Rep. Mace got into an exchange with Alejandra Caraballo, a clinical instructor at Harvard Law School Cyberlaw Clinic and transgender woman, during a hearing by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform discussing the links between white supremacy and anti-LGBTQ extremism.
During the proceedings, Mace asked Caraballo and five other witnesses testifying whether they believe “rhetoric on social media” is a problem and a threat to our democracy, to which the Republican received six yeses in response.
Mace then asked if rhetoric targeting “officials with violence for carrying out their constitutional duties” should also be considered a threat to democracy, to which the congresswoman also received six yeses.
Mace then showed an image of one of Caraballo’s tweets from June 25 which she posted after the Supreme Court overturned the historic abortion ruling Roe v. Wade.
“The 6 justices who overturned Roe should never know peace again. It is our civic duty to accost them every time they are in public,” Caraballo tweeted. “They are pariahs. Since women don’t have their rights, these justices should never have a peaceful moment in public again.”
Mace also displayed another tweet which Caraballo tweeted on November 19 reading: “It’s so clear that Justice [Samuel] Alito is corrupt and SCOTUS as an institution is compromised. This is not a legitimate court issuing decisions. It’s an organ of the far right that solely follows outcome determinative logic rather than any reasoned jurisprudence.”
When asked by Mace whether she stood by the tweets or whether she considered them a threat to democracy, Caraballo repeatedly said they were not an accurate or correct “characterization of my statements.”
A clip of the exchange between Mace and Caraballo was posted on Twitter by right-wing activist Andy Ngo, where it has since been viewed more than 2.2 million times.
Mace re-shared the tweet from Ngo while adding: “If you’re gonna be a hypocrite who advocates for violence online, you probably shouldn’t do it before testifying in my committee.”
Mace also re-shared a tweet from alt-right conspiracy theorist Mike Cernovich sharing footage of the hearing with the caption: “Play stupid games. Win stupid prizes…”
A number of conservative figures have praised Mace for confronting Caraballo with her previous online comments.
“Bravo Rep Nancy Mace. You have done a superb job of highlighting this,” wrote Twitter user ZenithYas.
Former GOP governor of South Carolina Nikki Haley tweeted: “The left hates it when they’re confronted with their own words! Good for Nancy Mace calling out this hypocrisy.”
Dan Eberhart, a Republican donor and CEO of Canary, an oilfield service company, wrote: “Brilliant display by Rep. @NancyMace! The people who say violent rhetoric on social media is a threat to democracy and then promote violent rhetoric themselves need to be held accountable and their hypocrisy displayed for the world to see.”
Former Daily Signal producer Douglas Blair tweeted: “These liberal activists are such hypocrites. They complain about ‘violent rhetoric’ coming from the right while posting the most vitriolic stuff imaginable.”
In further statement regarding the criticism she received, Caraballo told Newsweek: “Instead of taking the opportunity to discuss the detailed testimony I submitted regarding extremist violence against the LGBTQ+ community and its connections to white supremacy, Rep. Mace chose to attempt to score political points and subsequently pinned the quote retweet of Mike Cernovich, who pushed the pizzagate conspiracy theory and has made several racist, antisemitic, and homophobic tweets.”
Elsewhere during the hearing, Mace recounted her own experiences with being physically confronted in person as a result of online rhetoric.
“I know something about being accosted. The night of January 5, I was physically accosted on the streets of D.C. in Navy Yard by a constituent of mine,” Mace said.
“I fervently blamed rhetoric—rhetoric on social media, rhetoric at public events—for being physically accosted. I carry a gun everywhere I go when I am in my district and at home, because I know personally, that rhetoric has consequences.”
