Mace: I Won’t Vote for Scalise — He ‘Attended a White Supremacy Conference and Compared Himself to David Duke’

Representative Nancy Mace (R-SC) said Wednesday on CNN’s “The Lead” she will not be voting for Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) to be the next speaker of the House because he once compared himself to former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke and attended a white supremacists conference.

Scalise reportedly once told a Louisiana reporter he’s ‘like David Duke without the baggage.’

Anchor Jake Tapper said, “You endorsed Jim Jordan so I’m assuming you voted for him. If the vote was for Steve Scalise, would you vote for him today?”

Mace said, “I would not. I plan on voting for Jim Jordan on the floor.”

She added, “I personally cannot, in good conscious, vote for someone who attended a white supremacist conference and compared himself to David Duke. I would be doing a disservice to the voters I represent in South Carolina.”

Tapper said, “This is a reference to, in 2002, Scalise spoke before an extremist group founded by David Duke called the European-American Unity and Rights Organization. In 2015 when this was first reported, Scalise said, ‘It was a group whose views I condemn, It was a mistake I regret and I oppose divisive views like these groups hold.’ Is this the main reason why other Republicans are concerned about Scalise? I can’t believe Marjorie Taylor Greene would be upset about this.”

Mace said, “She mentioned his health as a reason she was not supporting him.”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN