Tim Scott Hits Back at Nancy Mace Over Congresswoman’s Airport Saga

Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina lashed out against his home-state colleague Rep. Nancy Mace on Tuesday after she carried out a profanity-ridden tirade against Charleston International Airport security officials after they did not immediately provide her an escort through the building.

During the incident, Mace suggested that airport officials would not have treated Scott in the same manner, prompting his response.

“For reasons that are unclear, Rep. Nancy Mace invoked my name during and in the aftermath of her situation at the Charleston International Airport. So let me be clear on a number of points. I have used that airport since long before I was ever in Congress and every interaction I have had - without exception - has been positive,” Scott posted on Facebook Tuesday evening.

“For those who want to invoke my name, please have the courtesy to note my actions and how I treat police officers, TSA agents, and fellow travelers with the respect they deserve,” Scott continued.

Scott’s comments come after Mace accused the airport’s internal law enforcement agency, the Charleston Regional Aviation Authority, of failing to provide her an appropriate security detail on dozens of occasions.

“My safety has been put at risk over 24 times at this airport,” she said, referencing a recent flight in which she said security was not at the door when she arrived. “This has happened over and over again.”

Mace informed the airport of her travel plans and need for an escort through the airport to her gate, according to incident reports filed by officers at the scene. However, CNN reported, she arrived about 30 minutes after she was supposed to, and in a different color vehicle.

Less than 30 minutes after arriving at the airport, officers were alerted to her presence and made their way over to her “in less than a minute,” the report said.

When officers met Mace to escort her, they said she was “very irate” and “began loudly cursing and making derogatory comments to us and about the department.”

“She repeatedly stated we were ‘f**king incompetent,’ and ‘this is no way to treat a f**king US Representative’,” one officer said in his report. “She also said we would never treat (US Sen.) Tim Scott like this.”

In Tuesday’s Facebook post, Scott said he does not use profanity “in public or in private” and that it is “never acceptable to berate police officers, airport staff, and TSA agents who are simply doing their jobs.”

“Nor is it becoming of a Member of Congress to use such vulgar language when dealing with constituents. Not only are these officers sworn to protect us, but we also take an oath to represent them,” Scott continued. “We work for them, not vice versa.”

Mace addressed the back-and-forth through a former aide Tuesday night.

“It’s extremely rich that someone with a half dozen personal security detail is commenting on the safety of a woman,” said Clare Considine, Mace’s former senior adviser who the congresswoman referred NOTUS to when asked for comment.

Since Monday’s altercation, Mace has posted about the airport incident on X more than 100 times and called for the resignation of the airport’s CEO Elliot Summey.

The current Republican candidate for governor defended her actions Monday and continues to allege that there are inconsistencies with the official report.

“I absolutely, 100%, confronted the airport employees who put my safety at risk,” she later added. “Did I drop an ‘F’ bomb? I hope I did. Did I call them incompetent? If I didn’t, they absolutely earned it.”