Let’s rewind about one month ago when South Carolina Republican Rep. Nancy Mace joined a CNN panel discussion on Kamala Harris.
During her appearance, CNN guest Michael Eric Dyson Dyson, Professor of African American Studies at Vanderbilt University, lashed out at Mace for pronouncing the vice president’s name ‘ka-MAH-la’ instead of ‘KA-mah-la.’
‘Now let me just say this, because this congresswoman is a wonderful human being, but when you disrespect Kamala Harris by saying you will call her anything you want, I know you don’t intend it to be that way. That’s the history and legacy of white disregard for the humanity of black people,’ Dyson said.
You can see the entire match here:
But in an interesting about-face, Mace claims that after the panel, and when the cameras were turned off, Dyson changed his tune about the South Carolina Republican, even going as far as to send Mace complimentary — even “flirty” — text messages.
Mace shared images of the texts on her social media account that she said were from Dyson after they took a photo together after the contentious segment on CNN.
— Nancy Mace (@NancyMace) September 19, 2024
In the texts, it appears that Dyson refers to Mace as gorgeous and even tosses in a “kiss” emoji.
Well, Mace is clearly one never to forget a contentious moment as she entered images of the alleged text messages into the congressional record yesterday during a House Oversight committee hearing.
‘I would like to also enter into the record a screenshot of a text message I received from the esteemed professor from Vanderbilt Michael Eric Dyson after my CNN interview, begged me for photos,’ she said.
‘In this text, he says, after calling me racist on CNN, ‘shh don’t tell anybody, we look good together.’ And sent me a kissy emoji,’ Mace went on.
According to Mace, she wanted to make the point that many people have pronounced Harris’ name wrong without getting such a visceral reaction.
‘The guy says I’m gorgeous in all these photos. I don’t think he’s that bent out of shape on how anyone pronounces Kamala,’ Mace said.
‘And if we’re going to have that standard, you gotta hold it to both sides, not just one or the other.’
Dyson however, did not appreciate the spectacle, calling Mace’s assertions ‘lies.’
‘The ridiculous lies told by Nancy Mace in the effort to smear my name because of her anger at being checked for her insensitive disregard for the vice president,’ he wrote on social media.
‘I had no intent with her to do anything but be nice. And her white women’s tears and mendacity are all in the service of lies and distortions.’
Dyson concluded that Mace was a racist, after the congresswoman shared his private texts.
‘I was wrong about one thing: she IS a bigot and racist,’ he concluded.
The moral of the story? Be careful what you text!