Nancy Mace explains why she broke down meeting Epstein victims — but then backed Trump’s ‘hoax’ claims hours later

Republican congresswoman Nancy Mace has expanded on why she was forced to walk out of a meeting with survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's empire of sexual abuse last week.

In a video posted on X on Sunday, the South Carolina representative — who is also running for governor there — described how one of the women's testimony triggered a trauma reaction stemming from Mace's own history of being raped.

"I was not prepared for what I was walking into. I thought I was, but really I wasn't," Mace said.

"She talked about her fear coming to the Capitol, and when she got into the elevator, she asked herself 'am I safe?'

"And I have to tell you, it hit close to home, because I have a stupid fear — so stupid... — of being in elevators with people I don't know...

"When you're going through this thing, you feel like you're alone. And I think it really struck me that I'm not alone, and there are lots of us out there that have been fighting for years, and we don't have justice."

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Mace's video, set to a dramatic movie-score-style soundtrack, offered no apology or contrition for her continuing endorsement of President Donald Trump — who allegedly had previous close ties to Epstein, was found liable for sexually assaulting E. Jean Carroll, and has been accused of sex crimes by numerous women.

“Donald Trump is the one who banned Jeffrey Epstein from Mar-a-Lago,” she told The Independent after last Tuesday's hearing. “He was an FBI informant, and he talked to the feds to get this guy turned over. So Donald Trump is a hero in this.”

Trump has repeatedly called allegations of ties between he and Epstein a “Democrat hoax” and claimed that a reported letter to the late sex offender is merely a “fake”. Trump vehemently denied he had authored the note or that it even existed.

Mace said last week that she had suffered a "full-blown panic attack". involving "sweating", "hyperventilating", and "shaking", due to hearing the survivors' testimony.

In her video, Mace also criticized the House Oversight Committee for redacting names in the more than 30,000 Epstein documents it released last week, most of which were already public.

"You can't tell me there are over 1000 victims and there's only one accomplice," she said. "I'm frustrated because of the redacted documents... come on."

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Mace has been open about her history of sexual abuse, alleging that she was raped at the age of 16 and also within the last few years by her ex-fiancé Patrick Bryant.

Bryant categorically denied her allegations, and a company he owns has hit back in court, accusing her of weaponizing her Congressional immunity from defamation laws.

In a court deposition, one of Mace's previous campaign consultants alleged that she personally set up numerous bot accounts on social media to dogpile people who criticized her.