During a campaign event on Wednesday, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), who is running for governor of South Carolina, compared herself to President Donald Trump.
00:00And before I wrap it up, because I want to do a little bit of policy, because the press says I like my pajamas, they want to write about my pajamas, they want to write about my memes, and they're funny, I think it's funny, some of it's very funny because the ridiculousness of the left, they're insane, they're lunatics, I have a little bit of fun with it, I want you to know what it's like to drive 12 hours through the night, to get to DC to vote on the big, beautiful bill.
00:30I did that, I did it, we were in a nice van, we had some dark chocolate, we stayed up all night, and we did it, we got there and we voted like 10 minutes later, it was fantastic, but that's what I'm willing to do for Donald Trump, when my flight got cancelled, my staff and I got in a car, in a van, and we hit the road, and we drove 12 hours through the storms, through the rain, through the night, just so we could vote on the big, beautiful bill.
00:53The last thing I want to say, two more things, is that when we elected Mike Johnson as speaker in January, it was really important for Donald Trump to get the speaker that he wanted, and that we did it in the first try, because if we didn't do it in the first try,
01:09it was going to be days, weeks, and months before we had a speaker of the house, we were down to two holdouts, who were unwilling to vote for speaker of the house, Mike Johnson, whom Trump wanted.
01:23One of those two holdouts is in this race.
01:25So you know what I did, I called the president on my phone, and he's like, Nancy, I'm golfing.
01:34And I said, Mr. President, we got two more holdouts, and he'd been on the phones, he'd been working it, he got to the first seven of the nine, and we were down to the last two.
01:43And I shoved my phone in the face of the speaker, and Mike Johnson, I said, the president's on the phone, and what are we going to do now?
01:49And I put the last two holdouts on the phone, not just my phone, my personal phone, with the president, and with Mike Johnson, and with the last two holdouts in a private room.
01:59And what I've witnessed the president do, the deal that he negotiated, the way that he brought everybody together in our room who had opposing views, opposing issues,
02:09because in the Republican Party, we believe in freedom.
02:12We believe in independence and independent thinking.
02:15We don't always agree, and that's okay, but when there's one guy in the room that can bring all of us together, I witnessed it, and that man was Donald J. Trump.
02:25So I was there for him, and we got the speaker elected, too.
02:28But six years ago, people say, well, don't you have any hobbies?
02:31Like, what do you do?
02:32I say, I just work.
02:33I am addicted to this job.
02:35I love what I'm doing in the House and Congress, but I have learned so much of how to be an effective legislator.
02:41The press won't tell you, I'm one of, I've drafted more bills than most members of Congress.
02:47I'm ranked like 1.59% or something.
02:49I'm in the top 10 or 12.
02:51I'm very methodical about the policies, and I want to bring that same energy to the state of South Carolina.
02:56The reason I am so passionate is because God has given me so many second chances in life.
03:05I didn't come up clean.
03:07I'm a high school dropout.
03:08I dropped out of high school at the age of 17.
03:10I took a job at the Waffle House on College Park Road in Ladson when I was 17.
03:17Who's been to Waffle House?
03:18Who's my Waffle House?
03:19Okay, where are my after-midnight Waffle House people?
03:23And I still have Hotel California on my playlist on Spotify.
03:27Don't judge.
03:29I listen to it every time I hit the road because I feel like I've been to a Waffle House.
03:33But that's where I got started.
03:35I stood on a piece of duct tape a foot wide, and I would yell to the cooks in the back of the kitchen at the Waffle House how my customers wanted their hash browns.
03:44Smothered.
03:46Covered.
03:47Chunked.
03:48You can get them peppered now.
03:49They have fancy jalapenos.
03:50Don't get in there really hot.
03:51But it's still the best cup of coffee you can get for $2 in America.
03:56And it sure as heck ain't Starbucks.
03:58So I don't want that woke coffee at all.
04:01But that taught me a lesson about being humble.
04:04It taught me about the value of hard work.
04:07And it said maybe I didn't want to, I wanted to finish high school.
04:11Maybe I had made a really bad mistake.
04:13And my parents said, if you're going to stop going to school, you've got to start going to work.
04:16And that's what I did.
04:17And finally, I would eventually get the equivalent of a high school diploma.
04:19I would go to the Citadel where I would become the first female graduate of the Citadel.
04:2826 years ago this summer, I'm feeling old.
04:31I'm getting close to 50, and I've got a kid who just graduated high school and going to school.
04:36But the Citadel taught me about courage.
04:39And it taught me about having a backbone.
04:41And it taught me that sometimes we just don't care.
04:46We're going to do the hard work.
04:48Because we're going to do what's right every single time.
04:53And it is a tough lesson to learn as a kid.
04:55And I got out of college, and I made my way about six years ago in 2019, May of 2019.
05:01I was going through a divorce.
05:03Not my first one, my second one.
05:05I know there's some of you in the room where we share that.
05:08I know I'm not the only one.
05:11But, you know, I was in church.
05:13I'm like, why, God?
05:14Why is this happening?
05:15You know, how do I get through this?
05:17And I was thinking about running for Congress.
05:18What was I going to do?
05:19What was I going to be when I grow up?
05:21But I still didn't know.
05:21I still don't know.
05:23And I'm sitting there in church, and it was Josh Surratt, Seacoast Church.
05:26And he's preaching on Jeremiah 6, 16.
05:30And it's about being at a crossroads in life.
05:34And I was at a devastating crossroads.
05:37Would I be able to keep my home?
05:38Would I be able to keep my children half the time?
05:41How would this look?
05:42Would I have the money to pay the mortgage?
05:44What would I do for a job?
05:46How would I?
05:47What was my future?
05:48What did it look like?
05:49And I'm bawling.
05:50I'm in tears.
05:50And my son, he was 12 at the time, put this little 12-year-old around my waist.
05:55And he squeezed me.
05:55He said, Mommy, I love you.
05:57I think it was the first time my kid, you know, they don't want to tell you they love you at 12.
06:01But he said, Mommy, I love you.
06:03It's going to be okay.
06:05We are going to be okay.
06:07And by the grace of God, I have not left the church since I've been there in six years.
06:13I did not spontaneously combust the first time I went in.
06:16And that I learned that the church is for sinners, not saints.
06:20And that the road to redemption can be long.
06:23But it is graceful when you believe in God and you obey Him.
06:26He gives you everything.
06:28I don't need riches in money.
06:31I need riches in getting South Carolina straight and serving people that got me to where I am today.
06:37Because I've been there.
06:38I have been in a tough spot.
06:40I have been broke.
06:41I have dropped out of school.
06:43I have questioned whether or not I would make it.
06:45I have been part of a broken justice system because of what happened to me two years ago.
06:50As a member of Congress, what happened to me two years ago could happen to me.
06:55Then what the heck are they doing to everybody else who doesn't have a seat in Congress?
07:01And I want to take what's broken in South Carolina and I want to burn it down to the ground and build it right back up, right where it needs to be.
07:11Because you deserve it.
07:15And even for someone who's going to work 24-7, I don't sleep.
07:20I went to bed at 1 and I was up at 4.
07:22Okay?
07:22I am Trump in high heels.
07:25I love what I am doing.
07:27I mean, he doesn't sleep.
07:29I don't do the McDonald's fried fish.
07:32He's way healthier than I am.
07:35But I'm following his lead because he's set a good example.
07:39And no one will work harder for South Carolina than I will.
