A campaign photo that shows Rep. Nancy Mace giving side-eye to a baby-kissing former President Donald Trump has viewers wondering if she was actively trying to be as cringy as possible.
Mace (R-SC) faced immediate mockery this week after posting the controversial image to her social media sites in an apparent attempt to showcase her close ties to the presumptive Republican nominee.
"From working on Trump’s campaign in 2016 to now being the only Trump ENDORSED candidate in SC-01, we have come a long way Mr. President," Mace wrote in an Instagram caption.
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Mace — who recently claimed she's being sabotaged by office staffers who mismanaged $1 million, hacked her phone, and spied on medical records — was immediately subjected to ridicule.
"This is so creepy," replied X user William Hamill.
"This is so cringe," added X user Nate. "Even for you."
"Tax dollars hard at work on that Ozempic and plastic surgery," replied Instagram user runawaymeatball.
Trump did not escape, either.
Asked Instagram user paul_g_cook, "Is Trump going to eat that kid?"
But perhaps the most dedicated mockery came from X satirist Dr. Annie Andrews, who posted Thursday a video in which she plays Mace directing staff to find her the perfect campaign photo.
Andrews, as Mace, starts off with quick references to South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem — facing waves of backlash after she boasted about shooting her family's dog in a new book — and Sen. Katie Britt's roundly ridiculed State of the Union rebuttal, both considered possible Vice President picks for Trump.
"With what's been happening with Kristi, after what happened with Katie, I really feel like this might be our chance," Mace says. "What I want to do today is show how strong my relationship with Trump is."
Andrews-as-Mace asks staff to forget Trump fired her from his campaign and endorsed her opponent in her 2022 congressional race, then explains what she wants.
"We're in the same shot ... but it's almost like we don't know each other at all," she explains. "It looks like Trump is abducting a small child, and like grabbing the child really hard? Like in those don't-shake-a-baby pictures?"
Here's what fake Mace does not want in her photo: the mother and the hand of a finger that should definitely be in the foreground.
"I know that sounds weird but trust me," she says. "I think this picture is going to be so powerful."
