Trump does not have future in Republican Party after Capitol riot: Rep. Nancy Mace

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., told Fox News Wednesday that while she opposes the impeachment of President Trump in the closing days of his term, he does not have a future in the GOP after last week's riot at the U.S. Capitol.

"I don't know how you go forward and defend the indefensible ...," Mace told "Your World". "People violently attacked the halls of Congress, our United States Capitol. I believe that every accomplishment that Republicans and the president had, and I was a big supporter of the president over the last four years ... but I believe tthat those accomplishments were wiped out."

The freshman congresswoman backed Trump throughout her political rise and her successful 2020 bid to represent South Carolina's First Congressional District, but has said she no longer believes in him due to his post-election conduct. 

However, Mace also criticized the attempt to remove the president from office with a week to go in his term during her first floor speech Wednesday, as Republicans and Democrats debated an article of impeachment against Trump for "incitement of insurrection." She told host Neil Cavuto the process was "reckless and unconstitutional."

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"There was a bicameral, bipartisan effort in the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House to look at censure as an option that would prevent the president from holding office again and condemn him for what happened last week," Mace said. "Unfortunately because impeachment was politicized largely by [House] Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi, she wouldn't allow censure to come up for a vote or a debate or even have that as an option."

Shortly after Mace's interview, the House voted to impeach Trump, making him the first president in U.S. history to be impeached twice. Ten Republicans joined all 222 Democrats in the vote.

Mace broke from many GOP colleagues in her opposition to Republican efforts to overturn the election results before the riot at the Capitol, saying Congress lacked the authority to do so.

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Trump repeatedly and falsely claimed over the past two months he had won reelection "in a landslide," arguing massive fraud in battleground states he narrowly lost. He also pressured Vice President Mike Pence to reject electors he believed were fraudulently chosen. On Jan. 6, a mob of his supporters departed a rally where Trump spoke about his push to fight the election results and stormed the Capitol as lawmakers met to certify President-elect Joe Biden's Electoral College victory. The deadly melee that ensued resulted in five deaths and scores of arrests.

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"I think the principles and ideas that he espoused are things we're going to have to champion in the future but without his support, his brand or his name," Mace said. "It's tarnished. I don't know how you defend what happened last week by any means."

Trump released a statement to Fox News on Wednesday calling for "no violence" during the transition to Biden and urged alll Americans to help "ease tensions and calm tempers."