Members of the GOP Performance Artist Caucus seldom let reality get in the way of their preferred narrative.
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In many ways, Rep. Nancy Mace (SC) epitomizes the Trump-era GOP: She frequently acts more like an influencer than a lawmaker, and, when she is hunting for attention, the truth often takes a backseat to a narrative more to the liking of Republican voters.
In recent weeks, we have been writing a lot about the dishonesty of Trump and his supporters. It is at the core of why this is a close presidential (and congressional) race.
In a world of lies, they can win this election. However, in a fact-based reality, they would struggle. Therefore, whenever possible, Mace and many others, aided by the right-wing media apparatus, jump on any narrative that suits their purposes.
Let’s see what that looks like using a recent example.
On Sunday, the New York Post, a Trump propaganda outlet, ran a story saying that a third wannabe Trump assassin had been arrested outside the former president’s rally in California.
This is based on the account of a local sheriff who, based on his grandiose claims, may have proven himself a bit too fond of the national spotlight.
In any case, the suspect, a man called Vem Miller, was later released. The self-proclaimed Trump supporter is a registered Republican and, apparently, a member of the “sovereign citizens” movement, which holds that its adherents are not subject to US laws.
In any case, if anybody, for example an elected official, would have wanted to weigh in on this story, an appropriate (and accurate) comment would have been, “A Trump-supporting loon was let go after a security scare. The ex-president was never in danger, officials say.”
Mace went a different route.
“The deranged left is still intent on stopping President Trump by any means necessary,” she tweeted to her 240,000 followers. “We have to get past the hatred and violence. I’m glad law enforcement was able to stop this lunatic and will keep them and President Trump in my prayers.”
Well, let’s break that down. The truest-sounding part of the entire tweet is that she is keeping Trump in her prayers.
Everything else is complete nonsense.
Most importantly, “the deranged left” isn’t doing anything. Sure, they are trying to stop Trump at the ballot box, but everything else is baseless slander. “They” certainly are not trying to assassinate the former president, which is what Mace is clearly insinuating here.
The first attempted assassin was a registered Republican, the second had mixed political loyalties (and likely voted for Trump in 2016), and this dude wasn’t an assassin at all. And even if he had been, he is clearly a proud MAGA sympathizer.
Therefore, her plea to get “past the hatred and violence” seems misplaced… unless she is referring to Trump talking about using the military to pursue his opponents, i.e., the “enemies from within.”
Here is the thing: Let’s assume for a moment that Mace was initially caught up in the emotion of reading this story and jumped to (extremely false) conclusions.
Then why is this tweet still up? Why hasn’t she corrected it, now that it has become clear that just about everything she has written is not based on reality?
The answer is easy: Because it sounds right to her followers… and right-wing influencers like Mace don’t back down in the face of the truth.
In his Navigating the Insanity columns, Klaus Marre provides the kind of hard-hitting, thought-provoking, and often funny analysis you won’t find anywhere else.
