South Carolina Representative Nancy Mace responded to critics who focused on her appearance during a ride-along with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
A video taken by the GOP Congresswoman as she accompanied agents to hunt down illegals drew harsh scrutiny for her glamorous look.
But in a response to the backlash, she said she hadn’t intended to stand out and felt the response was political drivel.
Addressing the comments, Mace remarked, ‘I didn’t even bother to wash my face or hair from the day before, but according to the Left, I made an effort to look nice. Alright,’ along with three laughing emojis.
The scrutiny erupted when Mace shared a 42-second clip to X where she was seen wearing a bulletproof vest on Friday morning.
The video’s caption highlighted the hands-on experience, stating, ‘We’re not just discussing the deportation of illegal immigrants – we’re actively witnessing it.’
In the video, which has since gone viral, Mace recounted the ride-along in Goose Creek, South Carolina, and discussed what she had witnessed during the raid.
‘Rise and shine cupcakes, we are headed out with ICE this morning,’ Mace said at the beginning of the video, which appeared to be in the early morning hours as it was dark inside the car.
In the next clip, which was filmed in daylight, Mace sat in the car and talked about seeing ‘illegal aliens first-hand.’
‘You came here illegally, you’re distributing fentanyl, get the f*** out,’ she said.
The Congresswoman claimed that ‘guns were drawn’, during the ordeal – including ‘long barrel’ rifles during the intense raid.
She mentioned how a ceiling was ripped down because one migrant supposedly attempted to hide from ICE agents inside the ceiling.
‘We are watching them take the suspect out now,’ she said while looking out the window.
She explained how she was watching the agents get ‘these illegals and drug dealers killing American people off our streets.’
‘And these agents, federal agents, getting this guy out of there – what they have done this morning – great job. Just amazing to see them at work and doing what they need to do to put America first.’
While attempting to shine a light on deportation efforts of illegal migrants, dozens of people flocked to the comments to accuse out the 47-year-old politician for seeking attention, many accusing her of ‘cosplay’ while others referenced her make-up and bold lashes.
‘So is Nancy Mace playing dress up with Kristy Noem too?’ one comment read. ‘Or is she jealous and wants more attention?’
Someone else added: ‘Are you a Congresswoman or an ICE agent??? How about you stop playing dress up and do YOUR job. This isn’t a reality show.’
‘These ride along Malibu Barbie vids are really kinda silly,’ one person wrote.
Another comment read: ‘Awwww! Are you playing dress up?’
‘Take off the vest you buffoon,’ another person added.
Another person chimed in and said: ‘P*** off ICE Barbie.’
Mace personally took the time to respond to several of the hundreds of comments, including one person who said that the ‘Anderson Cooper cosplay getup isn’t working.’
‘This was a very dangerous individual and we were all required to wear the vest. Long barrel rifles were drawn, and if something were to happen, they’d want to make sure everyone around is safe,’ she responded.
‘I want to thank ICE for keeping me safe as I watched on!’
In 2023, Mace wore a shirt that had the letter ‘A’ on it after voting as a way to oust Kevin McCarthy, the Republican House Speaker of California, The Daily Beast reported.
The shirt was said to be in reference to The Scarlet Letter, a novel about a woman who was ordered to wear a scarlet ‘A’ as punishment for an act of infidelity.
In December, the Congresswoman claimed that a transgender activist shook her hand so hard that she needed to be put into a sling afterwards.
James McIntyre, the activist, was arrested for the incident. However, witnesses of the encounter have questioned her account of the handshake after they described it as being a ‘normal interaction.’
During a House Oversight Committee hearing, Mace asked Missouri Representative Jasmine Crockett if she wanted to ‘take it outside’ – a statement she later said was not meant to allude to any type of violence.
The aggressive verbal confrontation came after Crockett accused Mace of villainizing transgender people solely for political reasons.
The Friday morning raid occurred in a neighborhood on Brick Greens Road. Mace said that she witnessed a ‘very sooth operation’ which resulted in several people being taken into custody, Count On News 2 reported.
Mace told the outlet that the man, who she described as the one hiding in the ceiling, was a very dangerous person wanted for fentanyl distribution.
‘He was recently caught with 3.5 grams of fentanyl,’ she said. ‘This is someone in our own backyard, in Goose Creek. That amount of fentanyl could kill hundreds if not more people.’
‘This guy is getting a one-way ticket back to whatever country he came from, and he can stay there.’
LJ Roscoe, the chief of the Goose Creek Police Department, told the outlet that his department was not notified in advance that ICE would be serving warrants at the location.
However, Mace claimed that it was all a miscommunication and that local authorities should ‘of course’ be notified before an operation is carried out.
Friday’s ride-along came just days after Kristi Noem, Donald Trump’s new homeland security secretary, was called out for her look while out on an immigration raid in The Bronx, New York.
Similar to Mace, the 53-year-old secretary donned in full makeup, a cap over perfectly curled hair and an ICE ballistic vest.
Noem, who oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in her role atop DHS, has been pictured at department events dressed in the same ensemble several times this week.
ICE has already arrested over 7,500 aliens since Donald Trump entered office, a White House official revealed to DailyMail.com this week. Deportation efforts have been underway daily since the Republican’s inauguration.
