CNN's Kaitlan Collins confronted South Carolina Republican Representative Nancy Mace on Wednesday night over her fundraising efforts following her involvement in the removal of now-former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Mace, who had previously criticized Florida Republican Representative Matt Gaetz for fundraising off his opposition to McCarthy, has now embraced fundraising tactics herself.
In January, Mace criticized Gaetz, calling him a "fraud" for sending out fundraising emails after voting against McCarthy's bid for the speakership. However, Mace's stance changed when she joined forces with Gaetz to oust McCarthy.
This did not go unnoticed by Collins, who openly questioned Mace's hypocritical stance after she used her appearance on CNN to plug her website.
You can watch their exchange in the video below.
Mace's appearance on CNN came after she sent out a fundraising email on Tuesday, urging supporters to donate to her campaign after her vote to remove the Speaker. During an interview with Neil Cavuto on Wednesday, she directed viewers to her campaign website for support, violating House Ethics rules by fundraising from inside the Capitol Building.
After Mace plugged her website for donations on-air, Collins questioned Mace about the apparent discrepancy in her standards, playing a clip of her previous criticism of Gaetz's fundraising tactics:
“I’m glad you brought that up because back in January, when there were the marathon votes for Kevin McCarthy to get this job, he was fighting to get the gavel."
[Before playing the clip]: "This is something that you said."
“Of course, now here we are in October, you and Congressman Gaetz are in agreement on at least ousting McCarthy. You were on a podcast together today."
"You yourself have been fundraising off that vote. How do you how do you explain that to now?”
Mace defended her decision, stating that she had received threats and needed financial support now that "the establishment" was against her:
"I made my decision last night. I made the decision to fundraise over the last 24 hours because of the threats that I have received over fundraising and money drying up, which is why I need help. The people, the establishment is coming after me."
"I’ve gotten a lot of threats from different groups and different members that they will withhold fundraising no matter what, and I do need help from the people."
"And that was a decision that I made late last night because of everything that was going on. And it is a genuine ask. And if they want, if people want to support the effort, they can go to NancyMace.org."
While Mace claimed that her decision to fundraise was made "late last night" in response to threats and fundraising issues, reports suggest that her fundraising efforts were planned well in advance of the vote to remove McCarthy.
At 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, Mace fundraised on X—within an hour of McCarthy's official ouster.
Collins grilled Mace further about her appearance with Gaetz on a podcast created by prominent White nationalist and former Trump adviser Steve Bannon:
"That podcast is one done by Steve Bannon [who] you once voted to hold in contempt of Congress ... Is he now advising you?"
Mace stumbled before denying any association with Bannon:
"No, I have consultants but he is not one of them. I often will make my decisions of my own volition. I don't take pressure from the outside world or outside groups, generally."
"I'm not beholden to anyone, anywhere. In D.C. I'm only beholden to the people and I make decision on legislation, [and] on votes generally on my own."
When Collins asked Mace how she would respond to critics who would accuse her of hypocrisy, Mace repeated her earlier claim about "threats" she's allegedly facing:
"I'm taking it from both sides right now and because of all the threats I've been receiving over the last couple of weeks."
Mace was criticized following her appearance on the network.
McCarthy's ouster makes him the first Speaker of the House of Representatives to ever be removed from the role during a legislative session.
Gaetz, who initiated the "motion to vacate" leading to McCarthy's removal, acknowledged the possibility of an outsider campaign for the speakership. He expressed willingness to support current members of Congress for the role but did not rule out considering individuals outside the body, since the U.S. Constitution does not require the Speaker to be a sitting member of Congress.
Former President Donald Trump is among those being recruited by some GOP members.
