South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace clashed with journalist Mehdi Hasan in a tense on-air exchange. Hasan pressed her on an animated video she posted to social media and on resurfaced drinking allegations from former staff. Mace denied both claims repeatedly, and the exchange drew backlash online. The confrontation quickly turned into overlapping cross-talk between the two.
The exchange aired on Piers Morgan’s show. Morgan repeatedly tried to moderate as both speakers talked over each other.
Hasan opened by asking why Mace posted an AI video suggesting Trump had endorsed her. “It’s a fake video of you and Trump,” he said. He said Trump had actually endorsed her opponent, and asked whether she was drunk when she posted it. Mace said she didn’t know which video he meant.
Mace then dismissed the video itself. “It’s a picture that was animated,” she said, calling Hasan’s argument illogical. When Hasan accused her of lying about the endorsement and called her both bigoted and mad, Mace pushed back. “Now, you’ve crossed the line,” she said. “This is what happens when a man debates a woman.” She denied being an alcoholic and accused Hasan of defaming her.
A separate allegation followed: Hasan said Mace had wanted two Muslim women removed from a grocery store. Mace did not respond to the claim. She continued denying she drinks heavily, calling Hasan’s questioning “disgusting.”
The drinking claims, Hasan said, came from Mace’s own former staff, not from him. Her former communications director told New York Magazine that Mace had staff buy her alcohol, he said. Mace repeatedly denied the account and demanded he name the person.
Natalie Johnson was the staffer Hasan named. He said Johnson told the magazine that Mace had interns and junior staff run to a congressional liquor store. He said this happened during the workday so Mace could drink during town halls. Mace denied the claim again. Hasan closed by saying Johnson does not like Mace, and neither does Trump. “Muslims don’t like you for being racist towards us,” he said.
Nancy Mace’s Mehdi Hasan Clash Draws Divided Online Reaction
The exchange quickly circulated online, where reactions to Mace’s conduct split sharply.
Many commenters sided against Mace. “Cooked her, and the fake victimhood oozed right on out of her,” one user wrote. Another was blunter: “She’s a raging alcoholic. She’s trying so hard to stay relevant.” A separate commenter didn’t hold back either: “Well-done. This bigotry needs to be called out just like this every time.” One more remarked, “David Duke would blush at some of the racist statements she comes out with.”
Others pushed back on Hasan instead. “I don’t like Nancy Mace, but that was obnoxious, Mehdi,” one user argued. Another framed the exchange as one-sided in her favor: “She engaged in a battle of wits with an unarmed man.”
Mace denied the drinking allegations throughout the exchange. The dispute over the former staffer claims remained unresolved when the clip ended.
