CNN’s Omar Jimenez schooled MAGA Rep. Nancy Mace on the First Amendment in a tense on-air clash.
Jimenez confronted the South Carolina congresswoman over her Islamophobic X posts during her appearance on the program Sunday.
Mace drew a sweeping line from Islam to national security on X Friday, declaring, “Every single Muslim holding public office in America is a trojan horse, and a threat to both national security and our republic.”
On Sunday, the 48-year-old Republican dug in further, writing, “If not wanting to be blown up, stabbed, or rammed by a car by a radical Islamist in the United States of America makes us Islamophobes, then so be it.”
Jimenez, 32, appeared to catch Mace off guard as he put her on the spot, pressing, “Are you saying that anyone who is Muslim is a threat to this country?”
“Uhh, that’s not what I said. Uhh, and that’s not what I said,” Mace repeated.
“I mean, it sounds like that’s what you’re saying,” Jimenez replied.
Mace, who lost in the South Carolina gubernatorial primary in June, claimed that she was referring to elected officials who are Muslim.
She singled out New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Democratic Senate candidate from Michigan Abdul El-Sayed, saying Americans should be “concerned” about “radical Islam ideology.”
“But congresswoman, there’s no indication that Mayor Mamdani has brought any of those ideals to New York City governance or that just being Muslim... brings those in,” Jimenez said.
He added that Mace’s blanket statements imply that every Muslim elected official is a threat, noting they are “folks who, by the way, are elected by American citizens.”
Rather than respond directly to Jimenez, Mace veered into a lengthy diatribe about Islam being incompatible with so-called “American values.”
“In the future, when our granddaughters are wearing burkas to school, we’re going to look back and say, how did this happen?” she said.
Jimenez fired back, “An expression of culture, congresswoman, is different than a blanket city policy.”
Mace then escalated into a conspiracy-laden rant, alleging Muslims are “trying to push these people out and our values out,” and saying, “I don’t want to hear the call to prayer five times a day in an American city.”
“Well, if you don’t want to hear it, that’s okay. The First Amendment protects [the] freedom of religion,” Jimenez said. “I grew up in a Christian household. I grew up in the South. Islam is not my religion. But I have Muslim friends, who, if that is how they worship, even if I don’t want to hear it, that is their right to hear.”
“In the privacy of their own mosque or their own home, not on the streets of America,” Mace said, before repeating that she was scared of seeing women in Burkas.
“That’s not being forced on you, congresswoman,” Jiminez said.
As Mace returned to her fixation on girls wearing hijabs—prompting Jimenez to remind her that families have the right to decide how to raise their children—he finally delivered a pointed lesson before wrapping up.
“I appreciate you taking your time and explaining your tweet as best you could there, but, you know, the First Amendment is pretty clear on freedom of religion,” he said, before pointing to Article 6 of the Constitution, which bars the government from requiring public officials to swear allegiance to any particular religion or religious belief for them to serve.
Mace shot back, “I don’t want this seeping into American culture. We have Christian foundations as a nation.”
“That’s your opinion. The First Amendment disagrees that it needs to stay that,” Jimenez said. “If someone wants to express their religion, it’s right there; it’s number one in terms of the Constitution.”
Mace then bizarrely exclaimed, “Go back to that country of origin. It doesn’t need to be here.”
“Congresswoman, America has a long history of expressing cultures from various countries,” Jimenez said. “You know that. We have seen that play out in generations of immigration.”
“I think we should ban all immigrants from those countries,” Mace blurted out one last time, as Jimenez once again reminded her, “And that is your opinion, Congresswoman.”
Responding to the interview on X, Mace wrote, “You cannot pledge allegiance to the U.S. Constitution and Sharia Law at the same time. One is a roadmap for freedom, the other is a blueprint for tyranny. Islam has no place in Western society.”
