Rep. Nancy Mace Bashes ABC Anchor for Rape-Shaming Her During an Interview Regarding Her Support of Trump

On Sunday, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) bashed ABC host George Stephanopoulos, accusing him of rape-shaming her, during a fiery exchange regarding the allegations against former President Donald Trump by writer E. Jean Carroll.

Mace was questioned by Stephanopoulos during ABC’s “This Week” about how she could back Trump after a jury found him liable for sexual assault against Carroll, who accused him of raping her in the 1990s. Trump was ordered to pay over $80 million to Carroll in a civil trial. 

“I was raped at the age of 16. And any rape victim will tell you I’ve lived for 30 years with an incredible amount of shame over being raped,” Mace began. “It’s a shame that you will never feel, George. And I’m not going to sit here on your show and be asked a question meant to shame me about another potential rape victim. I’m not gonna do that.”

Stephanopoulos insisted that “it’s actually not about shaming you” and said he was trying to understand why she endorsed Trump despite the allegations against him.

Trump endorsed Mace on Saturday in her reelection bid, after backing her primary rival in the 2022 midterms. Mace, similarly, backed the former president ahead of last month’s South Carolina primary. 

Mace noted several of Carroll’s public remarks regarding her rape allegations, saying that she joked about it and about taking money from the former president.

“E. Jean Carroll joked about all the money she’s going to get and made a mockery out of this case,” Mace went on. “It makes it harder for other women to come forward when another woman has made a mockery of it.”

Mace has previously spoken out about her experiences as a rape survivor, including while she served in the South Carolina state legislature and fought for a rape exemption in the state’s abortion law. 

Trump, for his part, has repeatedly denied Carroll’s accusations, posting a $91.6 million bond to appeal the judgment. 

Over the weekend, Trump once again denied Carroll’s allegations, telling a crowd on Saturday in Georgia, “Ninety-one million based on false accusations made about me by a woman that I knew nothing about, didn’t know, never heard of, I know nothing about her.”

Mace stressed that the case against Trump was a civil case, rather than a criminal one, which would be subject to a significantly higher burden of proof. 

“They didn’t even input all the evidence into the civil case,” Mace said.

She repeatedly bashed Stephanopoulos for “shaming” her by asking her the questions about her about-face on Trump.

“I find it offensive that as a rape victim you’re trying to shame me for my political choices and I’ve said again, repeatedly, E. Jean Carroll has made a mockery out of rape by joking about it,” Mace said.

“You can repeat that again and again and again and again,” Stephanopoulos said. “I’ve done nothing to shame you.”

Mace also defended her decision to back Trump in spite of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol incident, which she had previously criticized Trump over. 

“I listened to my voters in South Carolina and they’ve moved beyond January 6th,” Mace said.

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