Nancy Mace, a Republican member of Congress who was a key vote in ousting Kevin McCarthy as House of Representatives speaker, has donned a white T-shirt with a red letter “A” on it to symbolize her being “demonized” for her decision.
“I’m wearing the scarlet letter after the week I just had, being a woman up here, and being demonized for my vote and for my voice,” Mace told reporters on Tuesday, adding: “I will do the right thing every single time, no matter the consequences.”
The large red letter A is an apparent reference to The Scarlet Letter, the 1850 novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne in which the protagonist, Hester Prynne, has to wear a scarlet letter A – for “adultery” – for having a child out of wedlock.
Mace, who has been a Republican representative for a South Carolina district since 2021, has come under scrutiny for being one of a small group of Republicans who sided with Democrats to oust McCarthy, who dramatically lost his speakership last week.
Mace said she voted against McCarthy for his breaking of promises, such as on the expansion of contraceptive access for women, and has since decided to support Jim Jordan, a hard-right Ohio representative, to be speaker.
On Sunday, Mace told CBS that she was voting for Jordan due to his “values, his work ethic” but then declined to engage when asked about allegations that Jordan ignored sexual abuse that took place on the Ohio State University wrestling team when he was an assistant coach there.
“I’m not familiar or aware with that,” Mace said. “He’s not indicted on anything that I’m aware of. And so I don’t know anything and I can’t speak to that … I don’t know anything about that.”
Mace has been considered a relative GOP moderate, having previously criticized Donald Trump and called for him to be held accountable for his actions. However, her latest maneuverings around the McCarthy removal have led to suggestions she is now aligning herself more with the right wing of the party.
In August, she said that Joe Biden was “the most corrupt president in US history” and that she supported an impeachment inquiry into the president, after previously cautioning against such a move.
Mace’s office did not immediately respond to the Guardian’s request for comment.
