A Republican congresswoman has spoken out about the “extreme” policies being peddled by the far-right fringe of the party in recent months—with Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) saying over the weekend that her colleagues’ stances on both abortion and guns are costing the GOP big time at the polls.
She made her plea for moderation on Fox News Sunday, telling host Shannon Bream that she hopes Republicans can find a “middle ground” on the two issues.
“I have a great pro-life voting record,” she said. “But some of the stances we take and especially when it comes to rape and incest, protecting the life of the mother, it’s so extreme that middle, independent voters, right of center, left of center, they cannot support us.”
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“What I saw last year in the midterm elections, I saw us lose seats we should have won,” she continued. “It feels like we’re burying our heads in the sand. And every time I stick my head out and I take a position, I take it very publicly. Republicans will call me privately and then I say, ‘Well, what bill can we do, do you want to do with me, what press conference?’ And then there’s silence. It’s crickets, and it’s tone-deaf, and we’re afraid of the issue because we’re afraid of our base. But that’s not what the base is.”
Mace also called out her colleagues for their inaction on the fever pitch of gun violence plaguing communities across the country—saying that the issue hit home for her recently after she found herself near a mass shooting in her home state.
“Every mass shooting, there’s just silence, and prayers are offered, Easter baskets are offered, but no real solutions,” Mace said. “There are plenty of things that we can be doing besides offering prayers and silence.”
She even offered up two bipartisan policies she would support: stronger background checks and a system similar to Amber Alert that would notify Americans if a shooting broke out in their area.
“Every time there’s a mass shooting, and they’re increasing every year, every week, we don’t say anything,” she added. “We want to bury our heads in the sand and hope that it goes away. But guess what? It’s not going away.”
