GOP lawmaker: Trump has no future in the Republican Party

First-term Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) said Wednesday President Trump has “tarnished” his legacy and has no future in Republican Party politics.

Speaking on Fox News, Mace, who worked on Trump’s 2016 campaign, said the president and some of his GOP allies in Congress were directly responsible for inciting the mob that overran the Capitol. 

Mace was asked by Fox News host Neil Cavuto if she thinks Trump has a future in the Republican Party.

“I do not,” she replied. “I don’t know how you go forward and defend the indefensible. What happened last week was a national tragedy.”

Mace hailed what she described as Trump’s accomplishments on the economy, lowering taxes and developing a vaccine, but said he had “wiped out” everything good he has done and that the party must now separate itself from him. 

“I think the principles and ideas he espoused, we’re going to have to champion in the future, but without his support, his brand or his name,” Mace said. “It’s tarnished. I don’t know how you defend what he did last week by any means.”

Mace did not vote to impeach Trump on Wednesday, saying the Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) had rushed the articles of impeachment to the floor without due process. She added that the Senate would not take up an impeachment trial while Trump is in office anyway. 

The president has about one week remaining in his presidency. 

Mace said she supports censuring the president, which she said could also preclude him from ever running for office again.

“I do hold [Trump] responsible for much of what happened last Wednesday,” she said. “I also believe there were members in Congress, members of my own party, who also contributed to it if you look at the rhetoric, the transcripts at the speeches of the rallies … rhetoric does have consequences. I do believe people need to be held accountable.”