Former Rep. Nancy Mace has resurfaced on social media with nine new tattoos and a YouTube talk show called "Get Maced", her first public move since a string of political defeats left her without a path back to office.
Mace, 48, took to social media late last week to tease her plans, showing off tattoo-covered arms she had kept hidden for months. The South Carolina Republican first got the ink back in February, the New York Post reported, but waited until now to display them publicly, timing the reveal to coincide with the launch of her new show, which apparently covers the news of the day.
The debut drew a mix of bewilderment and mockery across X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. One user, Joe, posted simply: "What the f,." Activist Shannon Watts wrote, "We're living in a simulation." Another commenter predicted Mace was "ready to make even more poor decisions in her 50s."
Mace told Politico earlier this year that the tattoos came during a period of personal crisis. Staffers had left her office and, she said, badmouthed her to the press. She split with her fiancé. She got nine tattoos in rapid succession, describing the process as a way to "reclaim" her identity and body.
In that same interview, Mace was blunt about her state of mind:
"So my story is I am totally broken."
She also told the outlet, "I have PTSD over what I've been through." The personal turmoil ran alongside a political collapse that had been building for months.
Mace ran for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in South Carolina but finished fifth in the June 9 primary, a result that effectively ended her elected career. South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, a fellow Republican, won the runoff for the nomination.
The loss was especially bitter for Mace. She had accused Wilson of ignoring her sexual assault allegations against her ex-fiancé and others, a charge that gained no visible traction in the race and did nothing to improve her standing with voters.
When Sen. Lindsey Graham died of heart problems last month, Mace briefly floated the idea of running for his seat. The move raised eyebrows given her dismal primary showing just weeks earlier. She scrapped the plan and instead backed Rep. Ralph Norman, another South Carolina Republican, in the Senate race.
That decision capped a stretch in which Mace burned through whatever political capital she had left. She had already fractured her relationship with the party's base over a series of headline-grabbing moves during her time in Congress.
Her tenure included legislation targeting sexual relationships between lawmakers and staff, a bill that generated attention but little legislative momentum. She also drew sharp criticism from Democrats, and complicated reactions from her own side, after declaring Muslim public officials a national security threat.
But the break that may have mattered most came when Mace herself conceded that her split with President Trump over the Epstein files may have finished her political career. Without Trump's support, a Republican statewide campaign in South Carolina was always going to be an uphill climb. The fifth-place result confirmed it.
Now out of office and out of contention, Mace appears to be following a path worn smooth by other politicians who lost their seats: the pivot to media. "Get Maced" is her entry into a crowded field of political commentary shows on YouTube, where former officeholders compete for attention alongside podcasters, activists, and influencers of every stripe.
The tattoo reveal is plainly meant to signal a reinvention. Whether the audience for that reinvention extends beyond the social media users currently gawking at her arms remains an open question. The show's format and focus are still unclear, Fox News reported on a separate incident involving conservative activist Cam Higby, who was pepper-sprayed at Union Station after an alleged assault, illustrating the kind of confrontational political content that drives engagement on the platforms Mace is now trying to master.
Mace's career in Congress produced no shortage of controversy and no lasting legislative legacy. Her new chapter starts with tattoo sleeves and a webcam. The voters of South Carolina already gave their verdict. Now she is asking the internet for a second opinion.
