November 13 2025, 08:15 
Anti-LGBTQ+ Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), who is running to become South Carolina’s governor, recently asked for whistleblowers’ help to uncover a conspiracy of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Charleston International Airport security (CHS) workers who, on October 30, subjected her to “a disturbing abuse of power and a clear case of political retaliation” by making her go through common airport security measures like a regular person.
In a Tuesday press release, Mace accused TSA and CHS workers of “allegedly” wanting to revoke her TSA status and block her “from using the Known Crewmember (KCM) checkpoint as is standard operating procedure for all Members of Congress,” both of which she refers to as “inappropriate surveillance and targeting.”
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Her press release doesn’t mention the police report, which said she called airport workers “f**king incompetent,” nor the fact that the TSA blamed a miscommunication for failing to meet her curbside to escort her through security to her gate.
Mace’s press release asked TSA and CHS workers “to come forward with information” about her alleged mistreatment. But she has been insinuating a TSA-CHS conspiracy on social media as well.
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In an X post that Mace published late Tuesday night, she wrote, “I was allegedly ‘randomly selected’ by TSA and the Charleston Airport for extra surveillance. What are the odds? It gets better—I’ve been told I’m the ONLY elected official who got this special treatment. Totally random, I’m sure.” Her post included an image of herself with “Establishment Enemy #1” written upon it.
“To whoever greenlit this amateur-hour intimidation tactic: Did you think I’d be scared? Or flattered? Go ahead and make my day. Waste your time, waste taxpayer money, waste whatever credibility you had left,” she added.
So… I was allegedly "randomly selected" by TSA and the Charleston Airport for extra surveillance. What are the odds? It gets better – I've been told I'm the ONLY elected official who got this special treatment. Totally random, I'm sure.
— Nancy Mace (@NancyMace) November 12, 2025
To whoever greenlit this amateur-hour… pic.twitter.com/qOj9Wp1roJ
She has claimed that her selection for additional airport security screening was “the stuff of the DEEP STATE and BIG BROTHER,” and claimed that her lawsuit against the airport “may bring South Carolina’s Attorney General down in flames with it, and several others.”
However, local police, her fellow state Republicans, and at least one conservative commentator seem to think she is behaving in inappropriate and “embarrassing” ways, and may even be “not mentally well.”
The official police report of the incident stated, “The entire walk to gate B-8, she was cursing and complaining and often doing the same into her phone. After standing in the vicinity of B-8 for several minutes with her continuing her tirade, she finally boarded the aircraft.”
The report added that an American Airlines worker who witnessed the incident approached officers after Mace boarded the plane and “stated he was in disbelief regarding her behavior,” noting, “He implied that a US Representative should not be acting the way she was.”
Mace denies the veracity of the incident report and says she will sue TSA for defamation.
Criticizing Mace’s behavior, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) wrote on Facebook, “It is never acceptable to berate police officers, airport staff, and TSA agents who are simply doing their jobs, nor is it becoming of a Member of Congress to use such vulgar language when dealing with constituents. Not only are these officers sworn to protect us, but we also take an oath to represent them. We work for them, not vice versa.”
Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC) wrote via X, “I concur with [Scott’s] statement…. I have had similar personal experiences and have had nothing but positive, respectful engagements with the police officers and TSA agents who provide security for the Charleston Airport.”
I concur with @SenatorTimScott’s statement when it comes to the men and women who provide security at the Charleston International Airport. I have had similar personal experiences and have had nothing but positive, respectful engagements with the police officers and TSA agents…
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) November 5, 2025
The editorial board of South Carolina-based publication The Post and Courier wrote, “Rep. Mace’s foul language and her attitude toward security and other airport staff were out of bounds. Most people would have apologized after such an embarrassing display, perhaps explaining that they were understandably angry or even frightened and said things they now regret. Not Nancy Mace. Nancy Mace has built her public persona around using socially unacceptable language. If I cursed at these underlings, she told a news conference last week, I should have cursed more.”
Right-wing radio host Erick Erickson recently said on his broadcast, “There’s something wrong with Nancy Mace. And I’m not a fan of hers, and it’s increasingly because she’s not mentally well, and it’s really clear she’s not mentally well, and I don’t know if she has friends who can do an intervention with her, but Nancy Mace needs a real intervention.”
Erickson isn’t the only conservative concerned about Grace’s mental health.
“The general feeling is that there is something unwell about her,” an anonymous House Republican recently told CNN’s anchorperson Jake Tapper. “She’s really going through a crisis. It’s sad. Clearly, there is something going on with her.”
Mace’s former consultant, Wesley Donehue, who has traded barbs with Mace in the past, told Tapper, “Over the past two to three years, Nancy Mace has been having a sharp mental decline. I’m no doctor, but that’s what I believe. She went from being a very reasonable person to being someone who cannot control her emotions.”
Mace regularly uses anti-trans slurs and calls herself a “proud transphobe.”
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