Former Mace Staffers Claim She Had Them Create Fake Social Media Accounts To Praise Her

According to several former staffers for South Carolina Republican Representative for Nancy Mace, Mace had them create fake social media accounts—a "bot army," if you will—to monitor chatter about her online and to "bolster her image."

The aides say that Mace, who plays a key role in shaping GOP policy on technology and workforce issues as chair of the House Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation, demonstrates a disconnect between the high expectations for her leadership in these complex policy areas and her demonstrated expertise in the technical details.

For instance, though Mace claims to be a "self-taught coder," one insider said they "never saw her coding s**t" even though she'd "talk about tech a lot."

In conversations with Wired, the aides say that instead of actually showing what she can do, Mace ordered her staffers to create fake online accounts to praise her.

One said:

"We had to make multiple accounts, burner accounts, and go and reply to comments, saying things that weren't true—even Reddit forums. We were congressional staff, and there were actual things we could be doing to help the constituents."

In addition to making and monitoring some accounts herself, Mace made her staff create "burner accounts on a variety of social media platforms to monitor what people were saying about her and bolster her image."

Additionally, Wesley Donehue, whose firm did consulting work for Mace’s 2022 and 2024 reelection campaigns, said he fired her as a client and in a deposition discussed Mace's use of “Twitter burner accounts”:

“You need to know that Nancy Mace is quite the—when I use the word ‘nerd’ or ‘geek,’ it's always favorable, but a computer nerd or a computer geek. She programs her own bots. She sets up Twitter burner accounts. This is kind of a thing she does."

"She sits all night on the couch and programs bots, because she's very, very computer savvy. She controls her own voter database, she programs a lot of her own website, she programs Facebook bots and Instagram bots and Twitter bots. It's what she does for fun.”

Staffers backed Donehue's statements, pointing to the automation of replies on Mace's Facebook page, where users who thanked her would receive pre-programmed responses—a practice seen as emblematic of a broader reliance on surface-level digital tactics.

Many have criticized Mace in response, suggesting that her shallow and performative outreach indicates how little she cares for her constituents.

Donehue also told Wired that Mace spent more time worrying about her relationships than about her duties as a member of Congress, behavior that led to him dropping her as a client.

The deposition he agreed to was obtained by attorneys representing the ex-fiancé of Mace—one of four men she accused of sexual assault during a striking and emotional disclosure at a congressional hearing.

During that hearing, Mace displayed a blurred image that she claimed depicted her naked body, allegedly taken without her consent. She used the moment to advocate for stricter penalties against individuals who secretly record others in private settings.

However, Mace also publicly named four men—including her ex-fiancé, Patrick Bryant—referring to them as “predators.” Her decision to identify the men during the hearing drew significant controversy. All four individuals have denied the allegations, and Bryant, along with the others, has maintained his innocence.