Rep. Nancy Mace, who won her primary challenge in South Carolina on Tuesday against Katie Arrington, a candidate who had been backed by former President Donald Trump, said on Newsmax on Wednesday she welcomes Trump's congratulations and called for party unity for all GOP nominees.
"We are feeling exuberant and excited [but] we've got and we still have a long row to hoe," the South Carolina Republican said on Newsmax's "National Report." "This is a swing district, so we're going to be working hard starting today to ensure that this seat stays in Republican hands."
Trump, on his Truth Social platform, said Arrington is a "long shot" who "ran a great race and way over performed," and said Mace "should easily be able to defeat her Democrat opponent!"
Mace had angered Trump, however, by criticizing him over the Jan. 6 attacks on the Capitol, leading him to back Arrington in the state's 1st Congressional District race.
Mace told Newsmax that as Republicans, "we need to unite behind all of our nominees" if the party wants to regain its congressional majority in 2022 and win the White House in 2024.
"I'm appreciative of [Trump's] message," she said. "I welcome the message from everybody that's out there. I worked hard in this campaign in this race, and now we've got to unite together to get this majority back … we have a lot of work to do, and we need strong Republicans and when Republicans win their nominations and these primaries this summer, we need to support our nominees so we can get a majority in November, and that is the goal of the GOP."
Mace also on Wednesday commented on the House's passage of the Supreme Court justice protection bill but called it "disgusting" that 27 Democrats voted against it.
"Those are the same Democrats that want to defund the police," she said. "The judicial branch is the third branch of government, and all of our justices should be protected. You have someone who showed up, armed and dangerous on the front steps of Justice Brett Kavanaugh's home last weekend. This is a very dangerous situation. You have members of congress that are anteing up the rhetoric. You have a president who will not tamp it down and tell these folks to stop encouraging them in some ways."
Mace further discussed the bipartisan gun safety bill that has been reached and said that while she hasn't had a chance to fully examine it because of the election, she said any legislation must not infringe on law-abiding citizens' rights to have guns.
"If you look at Chicago, they have gun control where you're not allowed to bring in larger than a 9-millimeter [weapon]," she said. "They have mass shootings every single weekend, usually dozens of shootings. It's that sort of thing that doesn't work, so anything that we do must have a strong mental health component. We need mental health counselors in every single school in the country."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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