Clemson TPUSA hosts US Rep. Nancy Mace

On Oct. 1, the Clemson University Turning Point USA chapter hosted South Carolina congresswoman and gubernatorial candidate Nancy Mace as a speaker and Q&A host in the Madren Conference Center.

Charlie Clontz, president of Clemson TPUSA, began the event by highlighting the growth of both the chapter and the national organization after Charlie Kirk, TPUSA’s founder, was fatally shot on a college campus in September. He then highlighted Congresswoman Mace’s record and achievements and introduced her to speak.

Mace first honored Charlie Kirk and emphasized the importance of free speech in America, then reflected on her journey from dropping out of high school to becoming the first woman to graduate from The Citadel and the first Republican woman elected to represent South Carolina in the United States Congress.

After her opening remarks, Mace began taking questions from the audience on a variety of topics, starting with her recommendations for consuming news media and information.

“I get a lot of my data and information off of X, off of Twitter, because it’s changing so much, and I feel like you get a pretty good viewpoint, because you can see opposing views on X,” Mace responded. She explains that she does not just read one side; she wants to inform herself on what the other side may be saying.

Another question asked her thoughts on the recent government shutdown and what she believed ultimately caused it.

“My theory is that Chuck Schumer is afraid of being primaried in a U.S. Senate race next year by AOC. That is why we’re having a government shutdown because of a former bartender from the Bronx,” Mace espoused on the subject.

“The New York Times has a poll out that says 76% of Democrats do not want a government shutdown, but the leader of the minority party in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, decided to shut the government down anyway,” she continued.

While still addressing the government shutdown, Mace explained that Democrat representatives wanted to “roll back provisions in the Big Beautiful Bill that would have limited or banned” illegal immigrants from receiving free healthcare.

She also explained that U.S. troops will not receive their pay in response to the shutdown.

“Democrats voted to take the paychecks of our troops so that illegal aliens could get free health care,” Mace said. “They’d rather give them free health care than to pay our troops.”

Mace also expressed optimism that the government shutdown would be an opportunity to “trim the bureaucratic fat” from government agencies.

She elaborated that the government will see a RIF (reduction in force), meaning federal government employees will begin to lose their jobs. Mace claims that the public will start to see federal workers “get fired” within the next couple of days, and that individuals still a part of agencies that coordinate with diversity, equity and inclusion will be the first to go.

Mace believes that the government’s downsizing of workers could benefit the country.

“We’ve got plenty of jobs in the private sector that they can go take, but you’ll see this also as an opportunity while we are shut down to scale back the size of government, and I think that would be a very good thing.”

Another student expressed concern about “changes here at Clemson, the DEI, all this woke nonsense and especially the foreigners … If this continues, we’re gonna look like the UK in a couple years.”

Mace responded by sharing her experience being at odds with Ilhan Omar, one of Minnesota’s congresswomen, due to Sharia law. She said that “Minnesota and little Mogadishu” do not want to assimilate.

“Those are not the values our country was founded on,” she continued. “Sharia law should be banned in the United States of America, and if you watch Sharia law, then go back to whatever country has it, because it isn’t going to be here.”

A student then asked Mace for advice for someone lacking inspiration and feeling down about the current state of the United States and what the future holds.

“Get off the internet. I would take them outside, go touch some grass … I mean, truly like getting back in the environment. I don’t know what happened,” Mace replied.

She went on to explain that people have increasingly turned to online sources to learn information. “I used to be a Reddit fiend. I used to go on Reddit and hit refresh all the time, just even five years ago … I can’t go on there anymore because it’s just so nasty,” she continued.

Regarding the Affordable Care Act and the state of healthcare in the US, Mace said that “Big Pharma and big medical lobbyists have ruined the health care system.”

Mace also raised concerns about the issue of “red tape” in bureaucracy, which she claims is the reason prices have skyrocketed. Red tape refers to excessive and complicated regulations and procedures that might delay decisions and efficient action. She wants to see transparency about prices, as well as competition in the marketplace, instead of allowing red tape in the government.