"Real Time" host Bill Maher offered a friendly warning to Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., about a certain viewer who might have listened to her comments about certifying the 2020 election as vice president.
She also sparred with Maher, explaining her general shift towards former President Trump this way: "We've had three years of Joe Biden." "Wow, that bad huh?" Maher quipped. "It's been that bad," the Republican doubled down.
Mace has been among the high-profile Republicans earning buzz in recent months as potential candidates to be former President Trump's running mate in 2024.
During a panel discussion Friday night, Mace touted that she had voted to certify the 2020 election after Maher mocked "Trumper" Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake for calling the question of certifying the election as vice president a "hypothetical."
"Let me ask that of you," Maher said to Mace. "If you were the vice president on January 6th, would you have done what Mike Pence did that made Trump so angry?"
"I certified the Electoral College in every single state," Mace responded. "I mean, that was the right thing to do, the constitutional thing to do. And I would do it again, 100 percent. 100 percent."
"That's great," Maher replied.
Maher then added, "I must warn you, Donald Trump sometimes ‘accidentally’ watches this show."
"I hope he's watching tonight! I hope he's watching tonight," Mace exclaimed.
"He won't be happy with that answer," Maher told her.
"Here's the thing Bill, Republicans need more independent-minded voters to win in November," Mace said. "We can't just have this binary Republican, Democrat- we independent-minded people. My district is 40% unaffiliated independent voters and Republicans need those people to win in November in the general election. Those are just the facts."
Earlier in the conversation, Maher grilled Mace, a once outspoken critic of Trump following Jan. 6 who offered her endorsement of the former president in January.
"You did switch on Trump," Maher said. "You said, ‘How do we hold the president accountable? We need to find a way to hold the president accountable. His entire legacy was wiped out yesterday. We got to start over. We got to rebuild our nation and rebuild our party.’ That's not where you are now."
"Well, we've had three years of Joe Biden," Mace responded.
"Wow, that bad huh?" Maher quipped.
"It's been that bad," Mace doubled down. "I had an independent voter call me two mornings ago early in the morning and he said, 'I voted for Trump in 16 but I did not vote for president in 20. I didn't like the options.' And then he says to me, 'We can't have four more years of Joe Biden.' And I think there are a lot of people out there that would agree. And he cited the endless wars that are going on right now that didn't happen under Trump."
She concluded, "We had Russia invading Ukraine. We have Biden giving billions of dollars to Iran to fund terrorism around the world. All these things- we have inflation, we have over 8 million illegal immigrants who have come across the southern border."
