Nancy Mace Maintains Rape, Exploitation Allegations While Sharing Nude Photo of Herself

Mace said the photo was taken without her consent, which she presented as evidence during a House hearing to back up her previous claim that her ex-fiancé and three other men drugged and assaulted her.

By Kylie Cheung  |  May 21, 2025 | 12:58pm
Photo: Screenshot LatestPolitics
Nancy Mace Maintains Rape, Exploitation Allegations While Sharing Nude Photo of Herself

During a Tuesday hearing for the House Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation Subcommittee, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) shocked everyone present when she produced what appeared to be a nude photo of herself. Mace shared the image as part of a presentation of evidence to support her allegations, first made in February, that her ex-fiancé Patrick Bryant and three other men drugged and assaulted her as well as other women and underage girls. Mace claims the men also have a trove of intimate photos and videos of her and their other victims, and shared the photo of herself in question as evidence of this. 

Shortly before the hearing, Mace tweeted, “Today I will show my naked body on one of the videos predator and rapist Patrick Bryant took of me and many other women. Without our knowledge. Without our permission. And without our consent.” During the hearing, she said of the image, “This naked silhouette is my naked body. I didn’t know that I had been filmed. I didn’t give my consent. I didn’t give my permission and this particular video that Patrick Bryant recorded of me on his secret camera, he saved for over three years without my knowledge.” In addition to the photo of her, Mace shared censored photos of several other women and girls that she claims to have found on her ex-fiancé’s phone.

Mace’s bizarre decision to share these photos in such a public manner is the latest in a string of seemingly erratic behavior from the sitting congresswoman. In recent months, Mace has appeared to spend more time confronting and aggressively arguing with her own constituents, endangering and harassing trans people online, and taking selfies with bathroom signs to post online.

It’s frankly been hard to watch, as Mace is clearly going through… something. Her latest actions on Tuesday suggest she needs help; instead, she’s spending her days in Congress, clearly unable to meet the needs of her constituents, whom she recently called “ugly” and “nasty.”

In a statement to Politico, Bryant called Mace’s allegations “false” and “outrageous.”

“I have never raped anyone,” Bryant said. “I have never hidden cameras. I have never harmed any woman. These accusations are not just false—they are malicious and deeply personal.” Further, Bryant accused Mace of only making these claims during a House hearing “purportedly shielded by immunity,” because “if she believed them to be true and there was evidence to support her accusations, she would say them outside the chamber—away from her public role and protections and pursue them through proper legal channels. She has not done so, because she cannot.”

Mace, meanwhile, claimed in February that she had brought her allegations to law enforcement, but blamed South Carolina’s attorney general, Alan Wilson, for neglecting to take action, going so far as to call him a “do-nothing attorney general.” But Wilson’s office denied it had received any such reports from Mace. I should note that Mace and Wilson are both seen as likely GOP candidates for governor in the state come 2026, which seems… relevant to this.

Since Mace first leveled her accusations against Bryant and three other South Carolina men, they’ve taken legal action against her, accusing her of defamation. Earlier this month, an attorney at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in South Carolina said he would represent Mace against these legal actions. 

On Tuesday, Mace declared that she would “run through a brick wall to protect women and girls in South Carolina and to other potential victims,” adding, “I want you to know I have your back.”

Of course, if anything, Mace has often actively harmed other victims and survivors—certainly immigrant victims, who are more likely to face the threat of deportation for trying to seek help under legislation Mace has advocated for. Meanwhile, even as the individuals Mace accuses of harming her are all cis men, she’s spent the last year leading a bigoted crusade against trans people, baselessly smearing all trans people as abusers of cis women and girls. 

If Mace truly wanted to have the backs of women and girls, she’d leave Congress and let someone who is well enough to help them take her place.

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