Nancy Mace calls herself Trump's 'prodigal daughter' and reveals her top pick for his VP

Nancy Mace and Donald Trump's relationship has come a long way since when he called her 'crazy,' a 'terrible person' and endorsed her primary opponent. 

Having flipped and endorsed Mace this cycle, Trump and the colorful South Carolina Republican now 'joke' about their former hatred of each other, she said.  

'We make light of it, it's kind of funny. I've joked that I'm the prodigal daughter to him,' Mace told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview. 'I like to build relationships, not burn them down.' 

Trump had endorsed Mace - now locked in a high-dollar primary - weeks after she snubbed one-time friend Nikki Haley to back him. 

She and the president now maintain regular contact, and Mace said she'd 'love' to see him choose South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott as his vice president. 'He got me going to church five years ago, and he's just an amazing human. He's gonna do wonderful things.' 

Mace is one of eight Republicans who voted to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy and is now facing his wrath, she believes, in primary challenger Catherine Templeton.  

Mace, R-S.C., speaks at a campaign rally for former President Donald Trump on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024, in North Charleston, S.C.

Nancy Mace and Donald Trump's relationship has come a long way since when he called her 'crazy,' a 'terrible person' and endorsed her primary opponent

EXCLUSIVENancy Mace accuses former staffers of 'sabotage' 

Mace with her staff in 2023

'We project [McCarthy] is going to spend between he will spend between $4 and 5 million in the primary to try to buy this seat.' 

Mace said the former speaker's political career is 'down the tubes' and he's now taken to extracting vengeance on the Republicans who voted to oust him.  

'He's going against Donald Trump the nominee, he's going against the party, as I'm the incumbent. And he's doing this to I think, divide the party, destroy the party. And it's very detrimental,' the congresswoman said. 

Mace is defending her Charleston-area seat against frontrunner Templeton, a former state agency head, and political newcomer Bill Young. 

Mace said Templeton's deeply conservative views and anti-abortion stance would lose them the general election if she was successful in a primary. 'She was the last person they asked and the only one who said yes,' said Mace. 

'I don't tow the party line,' she said. 'Forty percent of our electorate are independent voters ... I represent a pro-choice district.'  

'McCarthy put up someone against me who's on record opposing all exceptions. Opposing rape exceptions, incest, exceptions, opposing exceptions for life of the mother. So if you're a young woman with an ectopic pregnancy, she's okay with you dying. She's okay. She's on record saying you should die, basically.' 

Mace is one of eight Republicans who voted to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy and is now facing his wrath, she believes, in primary challenger Catherine Templeton

Mace is defending her Charleston-area seat against frontrunner Templeton, a former state agency head, above, and political newcomer Bill Young

Mace has made a name for herself on women's issues. 

'We have such a slim majority anyway, and [McCarthy] did a s***y job in the 22 cycle. We lost seats we should have won, had we not buried our hat head in the sand on abortion post-Roe.' 

Capitol Hill life was 'lonely' after she voted to boot McCarthy, Mace said. But she saw it as a 'unifying event' - every Republican came out behind now-Speaker Mike Johnson after three frenzied, speakerless weeks. 

Since then, Johnson has lost more GOP votes than McCarthy in a motion to vacate - 11 to McCarthy's eight - but held onto his job thanks to help from Democrats.  

Mace once said Trump's 'entire legacy was wiped out' during the January 6, 2021 riot. She told staff she wanted to get punched in the face by rioters so she could be 'the face of the anti-Trump movement.' 

Rep. Nancy Mace pictured with Donald Trump when she worked on his campaign in 2016 - before being blacklisted 

Trump, in turn, has called her a 'grandstanding loser' and a 'RINO'  

'Frankly, she is despised by almost everyone, and who needs that in Congress, or in the Republican Party?' Trump said in a statement while endorsing her opponent Katie Arrington in 2022. 

DailyMail.com reported that she was blacklisted from his events in 2016 after working for his campaign. 

But Mace now says Trump 'respects' her for the exact reason they were antagonists in the past - that she doesn't just go along with her party. 

'It gets me in trouble when I go against the grain sometimes, but my voters in my district, in my state, don't want me to tow the party line. And I think he respects that.'

'When you go against the establishment like I have, I stand out like a sore thumb.'