Rep. Mace on spat with AOC over Capitol riot experience: I feel like I'm in a 'Jerry Springer' episode

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Nancy Mace slams coverage of AOC's riot fears

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., discusses her online feud with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., over their experiences during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. has a habit of "politicizing events to her advantage," freshman Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., told "America Reports" Thursday while discussing the women's experiences of the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Ocasio-Cortez has claimed she feared for her life during the violence and described what she called a frightening encounter with a Capitol Police officer, although some media outlets reported actual rioters reached her office in the Cannon House Office Building.

Mace told co-hosts John Roberts and Sandra Smith the dramatic broadsides between her and Ocasio-Cortez have left her feeling she felt like she was on an episode of "The Jerry Springer Show."

AOC FACES BACKLASH FROM GOP REP. NANCY MACE, OTHERS OVER CAPITOL CLAIMS

REP. NANCY MACE, R-S.C.: "My office is two doors down from AOC. Not at one moment during the events of Jan. 6 did any rioter or any insurrectionist come down the hallways where our offices are located. I initially took to task to the press [for] taking these claims to apocalyptic levels. All I did was state the facts. I live in reality. I deal with facts and not fiction. I said there were no rioters in the hallways of Cannon. I am two doors down from you, and she lost it today. She doesn't deal in reality ... 

I'm not going to discount the trauma ... I felt like I was a sitting duck, I felt like my life was in danger ... I sent my children home early that week because I was worried about violence that might transpire on Wednesday, Jan. 6. But at no time were there rioters at our doors banging to get in. And I think that also attacking the Capitol Police this week, she did that earlier this week, she did that last month. The only thing standing between us and the rioters in our office building were the Capitol Police and they were outnumbered. I'm not going to discount the trauma that we each experienced, but we have to be factual when we describe what actually happened ...

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She's very good at politicizing events to her advantage ... We have seen that throughout her tenure in Congress. These are the reasons why Americans are fed up with politics today, seeing the culture of personality and both parties continuously dividing our country. We have real work to do. Yesterday and today, being distracted from the work of the people, we have people out of jobs, we have kids that aren't back in school, we have vaccinations that need to get to vulnerable and compromised Americans so we can stem the tide of COVID-19. I feel like I'm in an episode of "Jerry Springer" right now. It's a circus, and we're paid a lot of money to do a job, and I'm here to work and that's what we need to be do ...

The congresswoman also addressed remarks by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., about her past inflammatory comments and embrace of conspiracy theories, the latest on COVID-19 relief, and the continued fight over reopening schools.

MACE: Everyone deserves a second chance. I did not watch [Greene's] speech today. If those are the words that she said, that is a step in the right direction. I vehemently disavow and condemn bigotry, things that were said on social media before she was elected to Congress ...

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The problem with impeachment next week in the Senate is the Senate can't take up the business of the people. Everything is on pause and on hold and we're not able to address the needs of Americans right now in this pandemic. Going forward, I think we do need to reconcile what our party is going to be in the future. We're not the party of violence, we're not the party of bigotry ...

Mandating a new minimum wage at $15 an hour in a COVID stimulus package has absolutely nothing to do with COVID-19. That's the problem with these big stimulus bills, is that politicians add things in that are irrelevant to the overall package and then they get very expensive. We know if wages go up to $15 an hour for small businesses, there will be fewer jobs available for hard-working Americans. This is not the time to penalize our workers or small businesses who are just simply trying to keep their doors barely open to get through this pandemic."