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U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace; Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser
"I’m a woman. You’re looking at one,” Bowser shot back at one point.
What began as a House Oversight hearing on crime and safety in Washington, D.C., quickly became a stage for political theater Thursday, as South Carolina Republican Rep. Nancy Mace sparred with Mayor Muriel Bowser in a testy exchange.
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Mace, who is running for governor of her state and has made transphobic and homophobic rhetoric central to her political persona, used her five minutes to launch into an attack on the District’s diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. “The government of the District of Columbia, under the leadership sitting in front of us today, has become a poster child for DEI and gender madness,” she declared, announcing the introduction of her “No DEI in D.C. Act.” The bill, she promised, would “rip the DEI and gender-bender nonsense out of the D.C. government root and branch.”
The hearing took place under the shadow of President Donald Trump’s August declaration of a federal “crime emergency” in Washington, which gave his administration partial control over the Metropolitan Police Department and authorized the deployment of the National Guard. The measure has already unsettled city residents and business owners, particularly in immigrant neighborhoods and LGBTQ+ nightlife districts, where increased federal patrols and immigration enforcement activity left bars, restaurants, and clubs struggling to stay open. Owners have reported empty Friday nights where packed crowds once gathered, and OpenTable data has shown steep declines in restaurant reservations, fueling fears that D.C.’s identity as a diverse, thriving city is being deliberately eroded.
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Against this backdrop, Mace zeroed in on phrases she said illustrated the excesses of progressive governance. She pressed Bowser, a Democrat, with a string of questions about the use of terms like “structural or institutional racism” and “birthing people” in the city’s code. Bowser, while acknowledging she was not familiar with every line of law, responded evenly: “I would assume it’s someone who gives birth,” when asked what a birthing person is. The room erupted in laughter moments later when Mace demanded a definition of “woman.”
Bowser answered, “I’m a woman. Are you a woman?”
Mace responded, “A hundred percent."
“Ok, I’m a woman. You’re looking at one,” Bowser shot back.
The exchange only grew sharper. When Bowser attempted to elaborate, Mace cut her off, snapping, “This is not her time. It’s my time. You can be quiet as I ask you questions, and then you can answer them.” Bowser, unruffled, countered, “Let’s make good use of the time, Ms. Mace.”
Mace also attacked D.C.’s recently created reparations commission, demanding to know whether Bowser supported distributing government benefits based on race. Bowser explained that the commission’s mandate is to study the issue, not to deliver direct payments, but Mace dismissed the response, calling her “slick.”
At another point, Mace seized on a provision in the code that recognizes the “social value of the LGBTQ+ community business economy.” Bowser replied that the phrasing reflected an obvious truth: that LGBTQ+ businesses provide tangible and measurable benefits to the city’s economy. Mace countered that all companies offer such benefits. Bowser answered dryly, “They should, or they would be out of business.”
Watch the wild exchange below.
JUST IN: Nancy Mace And DC Mayor Muriel Bowser Go At It After Mace Asks 'What Is A Woman?' www.youtube.com
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