Look: I don’t like to go that strong on a hed, but this is a “representative” going off on a constituent for asking a basic question.

Let’s not mince words. I have decent gaydar from my time as a raver. I think she assessed the situation correctly, but the reaction was uncalled for. I hope she gets primaried to hell.

Because that’s where someone like this belongs.

  • Saik0A
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    4 days ago

    Well I can see this in 2 ways from her video alone.

    1. We don’t see what came up before the video started rolling. If the dude was following her around for a bit (thus giving her time to actually pull out the phone and start recording) this could actually be warranted. She still looks stupid for posting this without the context prior because the video in of itself doesn’t favor her IMO… But it could make sense on why someone who is magically concerned with what town halls she’ll be participating in (a google search away, or call her office rather than harassing her directly) would actually approach her, identify her, engage her in questions, start talking about town halls (why would this just come out without any context?), then continuously repeat the question after the video started rolling? She still looks bad for talking shit to a (presumably) constituent… but this could be deep in the “creep” territory.

    2. She’s straight up looney tunes and there is no relevant context… She’s off her rocker and talks bad about her people to their face for asking simple questions even though she’s “off hours” while shopping, even though this is bad form on the guys part. Which will hopefully get her fired. Without some additional context, this is the only sane take to have only watching this video though, which is how she posted it.

    Now, it turns out that there is more context as the guy was recording the “full conversation” which is odd. He clearly ambushed her with the question and was recording the whole thing from start to end which shows some intent. https://x.com/i/status/1913710641438675421

    Unknown: Of course! (there was another person that was kind of in frame, no idea who said “of course” or what they said it about)
    Him: Nancy?
    Nancy: Yes.
    Him: When are you going to host a real town hall for the people?
    Nancy: Did you miss the 15 I had last year?
    Him: That wasn’t a town … When are you going to host one this year?
    Nancy: I’ve already had one and I’ll have a dozen more.
    Him: The town hall you hosted this year was not a town hall. Let’s be real.
    Nancy: Uhh, (starts grabbing phone to start recording, likely realizing that he’s recording at this point) it was a town hall and I do them every year.
    <The twitter video linked from Nancy starts>

    Now… we don’t know how long he was following her, but clearly long enough that he thought he should start to record the whole interaction before he even “knew” it was her which is pretty shady. He even preloaded the response to “I’ve already had one this year” and started to say it when it wasn’t a valid answer to her response. “That wasn’t a town [hall]” is not really a valid answer to “did you miss the 15 I had last year”. He was expecting her to talk about the “last” town hall and whiffed the response, we even see him break it out again when she finally does bring up the most recent town hall.

    Now I think her response was still bad. Her video definitely doesn’t paint her in good light. However, she likely picked up on his intent… likely caught him following her already, and he was likely putting up some body language that would have helped identify his intent that we can’t see on his view. Then the pointed questions, preloaded responses, and general hostile question/response with “that was not a town hall”… He wasn’t “just asking a question”, which is what people hide behind in these situations. He was pushing an agenda which is clear by his line of questioning, he was clearly following her (had already identified her as he decided he should be recording), and ambushed her while she’s trying to pick out shampoo at a store. He’s clearly and strongly in the wrong.

    Now having said all that… She’s just a fucking moron. This still makes her look like shit even though he’s clearly antagonizing it. She could have had even an ounce of tact and respect for the man and instead of going on this whole tirade, simply stated “Well I’ve answered your question, I’ll have probably a dozen more town halls this year and you can contact my office to get the specific dates… Can I get back to my shopping so I can go home and feed my kids?”. That would have outright made him to look like the lunatic he was, and not made her look like a complete jackass. Instead she ramped up 10000% the moment she had her phone out and that gave her literally no context for her video outside of “I’m an asshole”. But alas, both sides (gasp, yes! BOTH SIDES!) are lunatics it seems. And I’ll be down-voted for saying it.

    Edit: Oh, and to be clear… I have no fucking clue who this is prior to this video. I’m only just learning that she’s a rep from South Carolina?

    Edit2: fixed a formatting thing I just noticed.

    Edit3: From a news article… someone else posted here.

    A day earlier, she called out “deranged town hall fakers” who were calling her office about ditching the March town hall in her district.

    So yeah… at this point I HAVE to elaborate on how squarely in the wrong he is. It’s hard to not look at him as a concerted effort to harass her, asking that question in the way that he asked it just after a bunch of calls to her office? What are the chances? This doesn’t excuse her behavior… but it does rationalize HOW she got to her response a bit. Still makes her look like absolute shit… too much emotion, rather than just doing the damn job with grace/dignity. But anyone who defends this man as “just asking a question” is just not looking at the facts of the situation. This was harassment, and she showed no grace in return. I’d personally want better qualities in my law makers.

    • Megaman_EXE@beehaw.org
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      3 days ago

      Thanks for finding all that.

      It’s funny because the Republicans are getting away with so much damage and harm to people, but I’m still conflicted over someone harassing another person, even when it seems justified.

    • nimble@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      4 days ago

      She’s the rep that is leading bathroom bans for trans individuals which is the only reason i know who she is. Well, and using a trans slur.

      You bring good information about the context, but i assume he’s asking about an actual town hall because some reps are ejecting people for dissenting opinions, or only inviting Republicans. I couldn’t find any information about her recent town halls other than i saw one county request a town hall which she declined so idk what she is or isn’t doing to represent her people but you’ve got this guy and other people asking about town halls from her. Intent aside, I think it’s a fair question and politicians are supposed to handle these situations instead of escalating them. I’m not even a politician but i can be polite to someone for more than 1 minute even if i think they’re full of shit

      • Pete Hahnloser@beehaw.orgOP
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        4 days ago

        Mace just comes across as a cunt here. I know little about her, but this was unnecessary escalation. Being needlessly provocative is not a great look for a representative. What was that guy doing other than pointing out her inability to represent constituents?

      • sqgl@beehaw.org
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        4 days ago

        some reps are ejecting people for dissenting opinions

        And some are refusing to hold town halls. Which would explain why he “ambushed” her. Being fobbed off by her office doesn’t cut it, she needs to face the music. I understand his frustration and so should she.

        Here are about 15 examples of MTG ejecting dissenters, two of whom were tased.

        Here is the citizens grilling Senator Grassley about the abduction and deportation of the Venezuelans. I bet this guy doesn’t hold.any more town halls (Grassley is the Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.)