Republican Nancy Mace of South Carolina is claiming that a panelist on a CNN news show in which she participated sent her inappropriate and flirtatious text messages, and Mace has entered those into the Congressional record.
Along with other panelists including Vanderbilt University professor Michael Eric Dyson, Mace appeared on “CNN News Night with Abby Phillip” on August 15. Dyson, who is black, began lecturing Mace, who is white. Dyson used a raised voice and pointed his fingers at Mace repeatedly because he was offended that Mace had allegedly mispronounced Vice President Kamala Harris’ first name.
Dyson appeared to be extremely exercised, to the point of anger, when he believed Mace did not put the stress on the proper syllable in the name “Kamala.” He accused Mace of racism, implying that white people don’t care enough about black people to get their names right.
On Thursday, September 19 during a hearing, Mace entered text messages into the Congressional record that she received from Dyson. They appeared flirtatious and strangely at odds with the tone Dyson used while castigating Mace on air as an alleged racist. One of the messages called Mace “gorgeous.” This apparently appeared on Mace’s phone shortly after Dyson accused the congresswoman of using white supremacist language (whatever that may mean).
During the hearing, Mace said Dyson “begged me for photos.” After calling her a racist, Mace said, Dyson sent a message to her saying “we look good together” that included an emoji of a kiss. “The guy says I’m gorgeous in all these photos,” said Mace, adding that she doesn’t believe that Dyson was actually “bent out of shape” about the pronunciation of Kamala Harris’ name as he claimed to be.
During the August 15 CNN spot, Dyson seemed emotionally over the top, likening Mace’s alleged mispronunciation to the “history and legacy of white disregard for the humanity of black people.” It appears his pain was at least somewhat assuaged by Mace’s physical charms.
After the hearing, Dyson erupted at Mace in public, writing on X (Twitter) that she was using “white women’s tears” to escape the fact that she is a “bigot” and a “racist.” He added that Mace was a “sorry, sick soul.”
