Mace says she will file censure against Democrat over 'actual weapons' to bar fight remark

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) said she will file a resolution to censure Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) over his comment to “bring actual weapons to this bar fight” while talking about a House Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE) Subcommittee hearing.

Garcia’s comment came in a CNN interview on Wednesday after CNN host Brianna Keilar asked Garcia about his decision to call Elon Musk a “d—” during the hearing.

Garcia was making reference to DOGE Subcommittee Chair Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) showing censored intimate photos of Hunter Biden in a hearing in 2023. She showed a photo of Musk and saying it was also a “d— pic.”

“Well, he is a d—, and I think he's also harming the American public in an enormous way,” Garcia said of Musk on CNN, going on to reference demands from the Democratic base to be more aggressive.

“What I think is really important and what the American public want is for us to bring actual weapons to this bar fight. This is an actual fight for democracy, for the future of this country. And it's important to push back on the chairperson of this Committee,” Garcia said.

“I mean, Marjorie Taylor Greene talks about having decorum about bipartisanship. This is the person that lies more than anybody else in the entire Congress. And so if she is going to make a mockery of hearings, I want to make sure that us as Democrats are bringing that same level of energy,” Garcia said.

Mace said she will respond with a censure resolution, a mechanism to formally reprimand members of Congress. Use of the measure has increased in recent years, with House Republicans censuring three Democrats in 2023.

Her office said she planned to offer the resolution privileged, which would allow her to force action on the matter on the House floor, after next week’s House recess.

“Robert Garcia's call for ‘actual weapons’ against Elon Musk is dangerous and deranged. This isn't a heat of the moment situation. This was intentional,” Mace said in a statement on Thursday.

“His words are the lowest form of political thuggery. But because it’s one of their own, the Left stays silent. This double standard is disgusting. Rep. Garcia should be censured, and the fact his party refuses to condemn him tells you everything you need to know about their so-called ‘values.’”

Greene also brought up Garcia’s comments to The Hill on Thursday.

“No one says actual weapons unless they literally mean actual weapons,” Greene said. “He directly said, ‘We need to push back against,’ and he named me, the chairwoman of this committee.”

Asked if she is taking Garcia’s comments as a threat, Greene said: “I don't know how else to take it. If someone said they were going to bring actual weapons against you, how would you take that?”

Garcia is saying that his comment was an obvious figure of speech. And he dismissed Mace, who is often at the center of stoking controversies herself. 

“Oh @RepNancyMace, have you never heard of a figure of speech?” Garcia said in a post on X. 

“And ironic coming from you, considering you asked @RepJasmine to ‘take it outside’ during a hearing last month. Violence is never the answer.”

Garcia referencing the controversial South Carolina congresswoman in January getting into a heated exchange with Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) about transgender rights that ended with Mace suggesting the two could “take it outside,” with a Crockett spokesperson arguing at the time that Mace was “threatening physical violence.”

Mace posted an apparent draft of the resolution on X, which said “violence, threats of violence, or attempts to incite violence against Federal employees should not be tolerated in the House of Representatives.”

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