Reps Nancy Mace and Joe Wilson engage in brief brawl after he endorsed her primary GOP foe

WASHINGTON, DC: Rep Nancy Mace, R-South Carolina, exchanged a few jabs with Rep Joe Wilson, a fellow Republican from the same state on the House floor on Tuesday, June 4 following his endorsement of her primary opponent.

After Wilson released a statement supporting Catherine Templeton's bid to unseat her, Mace and Wilson were seen by Fox News engaging in what appeared to be a brief but heated exchange during House votes late on Tuesday afternoon.

In a post to X (formerly Twitter), Templeton announced Wilson's backing and thanked him. "@teamjoewilson endorses Team Templeton! Thank you for your support, Congressman! We're honored to have you on the team!" Templeton wrote on X.

What did Nancy Mace say about Joe Wilson?

Mace told the outlet that she told Wilson she "would never do to him what he has done to me," and "we needed to stop the infighting and unify so we can win it all in November."

"Too much at stake," Mace added. "And that there is a place in the party for people like me, people like him, Trump, MAGA, independents, women, everyone. Oh, and that I was working hard to crush it Tuesday."

This is not the first time Wilson has endorsed Mace's challenger, as he backed Katie Arrington during the last election cycle.

Nancy Mace is facing 2 Republican primary challengers

On June 11, Mace will face two Republican primary opponents: Bill Young, a former Marine, and Templeton, a former state official from South Carolina. Wilson, the Republican from South Carolina with the longest tenure, praised Templeton as "smart, honest, and dedicated to President Trump’s agenda to Make America Great Again" in a statement he released on Tuesday.

"As we face the peril of the Biden agenda — never ending inflation, taxes, crime, and illegal immigration, we need reinforcements in Congress who will always stand with conservatives, President Trump, and our beloved Lowcountry — we need Catherine Templeton in Congress," Wilson’s statement said.

Nancy Mace was one of 8 House Republicans who voted to successfully oust ex-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy

In October, Mace and eight other House Republicans successfully removed former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-California, a move that infuriated McCarthy's supporters as well as other moderate Republicans.

In March, the congresswoman from South Carolina, who had previously supported Trump's presidential candidacy, was able to obtain his endorsement. Wilson is a member of Trump's leadership team for reelection in South Carolina, demonstrating their mutual support for one another.

A recent Emerson College poll also shows Mace leading her two primary opponents by double digits. The mid-May survey shows her with 47 percent support, while Templeton and Young trail with 22 percent and 7 percent, respectively.