On Sunday, the political world finally got to see the details of a bipartisan bill on security aid and border policy. On Monday, Republican Rep. Nancy Mace went on Fox News to denounce the legislation.
But while the South Carolinian probably didn’t expect any tough questions, she was pressed on one relevant detail. Politico noted:
On Monday, Fox News host Martha MacCallum grilled Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) as to whether she’d actually read through all 370 pages of the legislation. Mace said her team is still working through it but argued that the bill keeps the border “wide open” with many “loopholes,” and that it “waters down” the asylum laws. “It’s exactly the opposite,” MacCallum responded. “That’s why I’m asking.”
If the GOP congresswoman had read the bill, she would’ve known that her claims weren’t true. But Mace didn’t bother, preferring instead to appear on national television to peddle bogus talking points on legislation she hadn’t read.
A day earlier, Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana told CNN, “You gotta read the bill. I mean, don’t be ignorant. Read the bill.” That was good advice, which too many of his colleagues did not take to heart.
To be sure, Mace was hardly the only one who failed to do her homework before condemning the legislation. In fact, Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma, the Republican co-author of the bipartisan bill, told NBC News this week, “Quite frankly, I was surprised at some folks that said, ‘It’ll take me days and weeks to be able to read through the bill,’ yet within a few minutes they tweeted out their opposition.”
In other words, at least some GOP senators denounced the bipartisan package before knowing what was in it.
None of this came as a shock. Congressional Republicans might’ve demanded this border deal, but once it was ready, a combination of factors — Donald Trump’s instructions, the desire to deny President Joe Biden an election-year “win,” the GOP base’s…
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