Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) wore a shirt with a scarlet letter “A” on Capitol Hill Tuesday because she felt “demonized” for voting to oust Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) from the role of House Speaker.
“I’m wearing this scarlet letter after the week that I just had last week being a woman up here and being demonized for my vote and for my voice,” Mace told reporters Tuesday night. “I’m here to let the rest of the world know and the country know I’m on the side of the people, I’m not on the side of the establishment.
“And I’m going to do the right thing every single time no matter the consequences because I don’t answer to anybody in D.C., I don’t answer to anyone in Washington, I only answer to the people,” she added.
Mace was one of eight Republicans who voted to remove McCarthy—and the only female Republican to do so.
Her use of the scarlet letter is an apparent reference to the 19th-century novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne of the same name. In the novel, the protagonist is forced to wear a scarlet “A” to publicly indicate that she is an adulteress after having a child out of wedlock.
Mace’s choice to wear the scarlet letter quickly drew mockery from critics online.
“The fact that Nancy Mace is genuinely clueless about the literary significance of the letter A she wears proves books should be read, not banned,” wrote one user on X.
Wrote a separate user: “Somewhere, Nancy Mace’s high school English teachers are knocking back a few…”
Others joked that Mace was signifying she did indeed commit adultery.
Mace recently went viral for joking during a Christian prayer breakfast about having sex with her fiancé, which upset some Christians, as she is twice divorced and not married to her current partner.
Some took it in an entirely different fashion.
Michael Moore, one of two Democrats vying for Mace’s seat in 2024, quipped that “the ‘A’ here stands for abortion ban—like the one Nancy Mace and her pick for House Speaker, Jim Jordan, want to enact across America.”
Mace has previously stated her support for a 15-20-week abortion ban with exceptions for rape or incest, and when the life of the mother is at risk. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who Mace has backed to replace McCarthy, on the other hand, is staunchly anti-abortion.
Jordan has received the support from a swath of Republicans to become speaker, including the endorsement of former President Donald Trump. The current two-way race is between him and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), though McCarthy has been reportedly eyeing a potential comeback as well.
