Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., is dismissing the raucous protests at her Monday town hall as the product of "lunatic rage."
The South Carolina congresswoman and GOP gubernatorial candidate clashed with activists during an event in Greenville, defending the Trump administration's immigration policies even as critics questioned if they were constitutional.
"I had an event in Greenville and then one hour later in Spartanburg, two different towns in the upstate. And we had some of the same protesters show up at both events," Mace said.
"Here is a man, President Donald Trump, who is making our country and our capital, everywhere safer, by deporting those who are here illegally. And the left's response, Democrats' response, is to protest in favor of MS-13, to protest in favor of the wife beaters, to protest in favor of violent criminals who are here illegally."
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During her town hall in Greenville on Monday, one attendee questioned how Mace would ensure people being detained in Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids will get "due process," noting it's a constitutional right.
"I mean, if I could put the National Guard on the corner of Home Depot every morning at 6 a.m., I would do that too," Mace responded.
At another point, she told a critical attendee, "Some of you do hate our country," and "I think you might even hate our state, too."
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It's a more combative approach than some of her fellow Republicans have taken at town halls.
"These people need a dose of their own medicine. And these are people that weren't told 'no' growing up. They were told that they could be a unicorn, that men could get pregnant, all these crazy things. And that is not reality. That is not the world that we live in," Mace said of her decision to confront protesters.
"These people need a dose of reality…somebody has to be the adult in the room, and somebody has to tell these people the truth."
She signaled, however, that she was willing and even eager to face critics at future town hall events again.
"I don't mind it. I hope that more come to our events. We're taking the state by storm," Mace said.
Mace is running in a crowded Republican gubernatorial primary that also includes South Carolina Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, state Sen. Josh Kimbrell, state Attorney General Alan Wilson, and fellow House GOP lawmaker Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C.
