Republicans’ stance on abortion hurt them in gaining a majority in the House of Representatives during the midterm elections, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) said Sunday.
Driving the news: “We should have had a dozen or two-dozen seat majority this legislative session, but we don’t because this is one of the issues that was top of mind for swing voters,” Mace said during the interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
What she’s saying: Mace said “whether it’s keeping the majority or trying to win the White House, going to the extremes and digging in there isn’t going to work for most people” as the country heads into the 2024 election cycle.
- “At some point, that infant has the right to life, and women’s rights are equally important. So let’s have that conversation.”
- “Let’s find a way to move together because having a divided Congress means we’re supposed to be working together, but both sides are afraid of their primaries. That’s not the way we should be operating. But that’s the way [for] the majority of people in Congress — they vote and legislate out of fear.”
Of note: Mace applauded Sen. Joe Manchin‘s (D-W.Va.) stance on abortion, jokingly calling the Democrat “the most popular Republican in the Senate right now.”
- “To hear him talk about these issues in a very refreshing, balanced way is the way both sides of the aisle need to approach every issue, including abortion,” she said.
The big picture: Both sides in the abortion fight are trying to claim the symbolic high ground as Sunday mark’s the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Axios’ Oriana Gonzalez reports.
Go deeper… Republicans’ abortion silence backfires in midterms
