House

Mace adopts ‘Dark Brandon’ meme amid GOP blowback: ‘Bring it’

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) leaves the House Chamber following the last votes of the day on Tuesday, June 21, 2022.

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) posted an edited picture of herself with laser eyes on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Thursday.

“DC insiders want to kick me off committees and out of the GOP conference — for standing up for you!” Mace said in the post.

The laser eyes meme, most known for its connection to the “Dark Brandon” meme, has also been connected to Bitcoin. Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) made a photo of herself with laser eyes her profile picture in 2021 as part of an online movement by investors in the cryptocurrency as they waited for the price of one Bitcoin to reach $100,000. 

“I say, bring it. I’m not afraid of the establishment. I owe Washington nothing and I’ll stand with real Americans every single time. Will you stand with me?” Mace continued, followed by a link to a fundraising page for herself. 

Mace was one of eight Republicans who voted with House Democrats to kick former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) out of office Tuesday in a 216-210 vote. Fellow Republicans have directed heavy criticism at her and the other seven whose votes resulted in McCarthy’s ouster.

“They voted with 208 Democrats to torpedo our House Republican majority,” Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) said Wednesday. “The American people elected us to govern to serve as a check and balance on the Biden agenda and everything that we’ve been focused on from cutting spending to securing our border was just imperiled by these eight individuals.” 

Mace said McCarthy had “not lived up to his word on how the House would operate,” in a Tuesday post on X

“There has also been no action on many issues we care about and were promised,” Mace said. “We were promised we would move on women’s issues and legislation to keep our communities safe. Those things never happened.”