CNN Anchor Politely Points Out To Nancy Mace That Her Bigoted On-Air Rant Is Dumb

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) is so 2001. 

On Sunday, the South Carolina lawmaker appeared on "CNN Newsroom" and was confronted about a few anti-Muslim tweets she published on X over the weekend. The posts came just days after Abdul El-Sayedwon the Democratic primary for Michigan's U.S. Senate seat.

"Every single Muslim holding public office in America is a trojan horse," Mace wrote Friday. "And a threat to both national security and our republic. We refuse to be silent."

On Sunday, she followed that gem up with: 

"If not wanting to be blown up, stabbed, or rammed by a car by a radical Islamist in the United States of America makes us Islamophobes, then so be it." 

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During her appearance on CNN Sunday, host Omar Jimenez questioned Mace about her tweets after reading them back to her pretty much for batten.

"Are you saying that anyone who is Muslim is a threat to this country?" Jimenez  asked Mace.

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"Uhh, that's not what I said, that's not what I said," Mace replied. "I do think we have a real issue with radical Islamic—" 

"I mean, it sounds like that's what you're saying," Jimenez interjected.

"No, I was talking about elected officials," Mace said. 

"So any Muslim elected official? Sorry to cut you off," the anchor followed. 

Mace confirmed the clarification by name-checking three progressive Muslims who are currently shaking up the political status quo: New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, popular Twitch streamer and activist Hasan Piker, and El-Sayed.

While speaking about the men, Mace sounded very much like someone who recently dusted off her copy of "The Conservative Fearmongering Handbook" and took a few notes from the section about post-9/11 Islamphobic rhetoric.

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Eventually, Jimenez cut her off again.

"But congresswoman, there's no indication that Mayor Mamdani has brought any of those ideals to New York City governance," he said. "Or that just being Muslim brings those in." 

Mace brushed off Jimenez's point and bulldozed ahead. 

"But congresswoman," Jimenez chimed in again. "When you make a blanket statement like that, it implies that every Muslim member of Congress or leadership, folks who are elected by the way by American citizens," Jimenez began. 

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"I am deeply concerned about Michigan Democrats nominating a guy hanging out with Hasan Piker, who said America deserved 9/11, who has a framed photo of the Twin Towers being—" Mace said. 

Jimenez countered that El-Sayed has already apologized for that. For what it's worth, Piker also walked-back his 9/11 remark shortly after he made it in 2019 by saying it was "inappropriate."

"Yeah, but this is who he's hanging out with," Mace argued about El-Sayed's association with Piker. "This kind of person who is promoting communist ideology… America is not built on those values, and in the future, when our granddaughters are wearing burkas to school, we're going to look back and say, 'How did this happen?'" 

"There's no indication that that is happening on a wide basis," the anchor argued. 

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Up until this point, Jimenez was being firm yet polite while pressing Mace. But things began to get heated when Made upped the ante on her rhetoric.

"I don't want to hear the call to prayer five times a day in an American city," she gripped.

"Well, if you don't want to hear it, that's OK," Jimenez said before offering her a reality check with one simple point: "The First Amendment protects freedom of religion."

"If you don't want to hear it, fine," Jimenez said. "I grew up in a Christian household. I grew up in the South. Islam is not my religion, but I have Muslim friends who, if that is how they worship, even if I don't want to hear it, that is their right to hear." 

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"In the privacy of their own mosque or their own home, not on the streets of America. I think we're speaking a very different, uh vibe here," Mace said. 

She continued, "I look at the women who are covered head to toe with little slits for their eyes. As a woman, that's scary to me—"

"That's not being forced on you, congresswoman," Jimenez said. "That's not being forced on you to do, congresswoman. That's not happening at a congressional, legal level." 

At this point, Mace wasn't even listening to Jimenez and was just rambling.

"A 6-year-old girl doesn't get a say if she should wear a hijab or not, I mean this is very, I think, dangerous ideology," Mace said. 

"That's up to a family's decision on how they govern their kids," Jimenez shot back.

As the interview wound down, Jimenez returned to his point about the Constitution. 

"I appreciate you taking your time and explaining your tweet as best you could there, but, you know, the First Amendment is pretty clear on freedom of religion," he said, also pointing to Article 6, which prohibits religious tests for public office. 

"I don't want this seeping into American culture. We have Christian foundations as a nation," Mace said. 

"That's your opinion. The First Amendment disagrees that it needs to stay that," Jimenez said. "If someone wants to express their religion, it's right there; it's number one in terms of the Constitution."

"Then go back to that country, is all I have to say," Mace concluded. "It doesn't need to be here."

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