Podcast Summary: "The Real Reason GOP Will Lose Midterms That No One Wants to Admit"

The Rubin Report
Host: Dave Rubin
Guest: Rep. Nancy Mace (South Carolina)
Date: December 18, 2025

Episode Overview

In this engaging conversation, Dave Rubin sits down with South Carolina Congresswoman Nancy Mace to dissect the looming challenges facing the GOP in upcoming midterm elections. They explore the party’s legislative stagnation, internal divisions, missed opportunities, and the broader cultural and political divides shaping America. Mace offers frank insights into why she believes Republicans risk a "bloodbath" at the polls, what’s unique about South Carolina, the strengths and weaknesses of federalism, and how honest, unflinching leadership could change the party’s fate.

Major Discussion Points & Insights

1. Lack of Legislative Productivity: A GOP Weakness

Time: 02:09–04:15

• Low Bill Passage Rate:
  Mace laments the tiny fraction (about 5%) of bills that pass the House, with even fewer making it through the Senate.

  "Only about 5% of bills that have been filed so far this year have passed out of the House... If you look at the previous administration... we're behind, significantly behind." — Nancy Mace (02:12)

• Stalled Trump Agenda:
  Mace describes her bill to deport violent illegal aliens—passed in the House but stuck in the Senate—as emblematic of the GOP’s inability to push through a conservative agenda.

  "So it's just, what are we doing if we're not fulfilling the President's agenda?" — Nancy Mace (03:12)

2. Fear of Losing vs. Courageous Leadership

Time: 04:15–05:16

• Contrast with Democrats:
  Mace draws a stark parallel to how Nancy Pelosi aggressively passed progressive legislation, regardless of potential backlash, suggesting the GOP lacks similar conviction.

  "What Nancy Pelosi did...she was ruthless and she knew that the Speaker's gavel was temporary...They shoved through the most progressive ideological policies known to man... We're not, we don't have that same thing." — Nancy Mace (04:28)

• Moderation as a Liability:
  She criticizes the tendency to "moderate to the left" out of fear rather than standing firm on conservative principles.

  "We get elected and we get scared of losing the election. So we moderate to the left trying to keep independents and moderates. But you don't, I don't think we understand as a party that conservatives can win." — Nancy Mace (04:48)

3. Leadership Gaps and Missed Opportunities

Time: 05:16–05:53

• Blame on Congressional Leadership:
  Mace emphasizes that lack of action isn’t Trump's fault but stems from leadership failings in the House and Senate.

  "The President's doing phenomenal...I believe that Senate leadership...can just sit there for months or years on end and not do anything...I'm frustrated by what I see going on here." — Nancy Mace (05:22-05:51)

4. South Carolina Snapshot: Ground-Level Perspective

Time: 05:53–07:44

• State Identity and Challenges:
  As the fastest growing state in the US, South Carolina is seeing an influx of newcomers, but also faces ideological battles. Mace recounts an incident exposing excessive gender options on a college form, and her personal intervention.

  "At one point we had a college university, had like a 15 gender form and male and female weren't two of the options. So I called the president of the college, I left the message, I recorded it, put it on X. Within three hours it was taken down." — Nancy Mace (06:42)

• High Taxes & Reform Agenda:
  Mace lays out her plan to reduce the state’s high income tax rate.

  "I've got a plan to reduce that to zero. But our state needs to become a little more competitive." — Nancy Mace (07:28)

5. Federalism: Unity or Further Division?

Time: 07:44–08:50

• Diverging State Paths:
  Rubin questions if states will simply go their "separate ways." Mace stresses federal supremacy on issues like immigration but supports states’ rights otherwise.

  "If the president says we're deporting illegal aliens, you don't get the right to say no to that because that's a federal issue and there's supremacy. Federal supremacy." — Nancy Mace (08:15)

• Accountability for Sanctuary Jurisdictions:
  She advocates for financial penalties (defunding) for cities and states refusing to cooperate with federal law.

  "If you're a blue city, a blue mayor, a blue governor, and you aren't following federal law, we shouldn't give you a dime." — Nancy Mace (08:39)

6. Evaluating Trump’s Performance and Barriers

Time: 10:25–11:12

• Trump Meeting Expectations:
  Mace is effusive about Trump’s leadership, stating he has done “everything” asked.

  "I wake up every day and I just thank God for Donald Trump because he's doing everything we asked him to do." — Nancy Mace (10:42)

• Structural Obstacles:
  Mace argues that it’s not Trump, but rather legislative bottlenecks and leadership inertia—especially with temporary appointments being blocked—that stall progress.

7. State-Level Support for Federal Policy

Time: 11:12–12:39

• What More Can Governors Do?
  Mace points to Governor DeSantis as a model for working with ICE, and suggests governors and local officials can actively support Trump’s deportation agenda.

  "Governors could deputize local agents, local deputies to help ICE...There's more that we all could be doing to support his agenda." — Nancy Mace (11:22)

• Time is Short:
  Mace warns that bureaucratic delays and lack of urgency could doom Republican prospects in the midterms.

8. Blunt Assessment of the Democratic Party and Cultural Divides

Time: 12:39–15:24

• Mental Illness Claims:
  Mace does not mince words, attributing leftist ideology and behavior to "mental illness."

  "I think that there is a real mental illness on the left side of the aisle. That's the only way I can explain some of the behavior that's happening." — Nancy Mace (12:51)

• Criticism of Gender & Trans Issues:
  She is sharply critical of Democratic stances on women’s spaces, transgender rights, and youth medical transitions, calling them “not normal.”

  "You're so pro woman, you want to take away women's rights...anybody that...wants to castrate a kid because that's what he feels like that day...that is normal. That's not normal." — Nancy Mace (13:38)

• Family Divides and “TDS”:
  Mace shares that disagreements over Trump (“Trump Derangement Syndrome”) have fractured even her own family gatherings.

  "Those family members, they don't come to Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner anymore. That's how bad it's gotten." — Nancy Mace (15:10)

9. A Path to GOP Victory: Hard Work & Honesty

Time: 15:25–17:01

• Formula for Winning:
  Mace argues Republicans shouldn’t shy away from bold conservative action or candor, claiming it wins support—including from independents.

  "If we're honest, we work hard, deliver on Trump's agenda, we're going to win overwhelmingly." — Nancy Mace (16:33)

• Personal Example:
  She touts her 2020 win (plus one point) and an 18-point victory four years later as proof that outspoken conservatism can perform, even in swing districts.

  "As a conservative, I won in 2020 by one point. And four years later...I won by 18 points...It was because...the way that I'm very honest in the way that I talk about issues." — Nancy Mace (15:44)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Legislative Failure:
  "We're about to see a bloodbath in the House, which means we're going to be completely neutered a year from now and not be able to get a conservative Trump agenda out." — Nancy Mace (03:38)
• On Imitating Pelosi’s Tactics:
  "She was ruthless and she knew that the Speaker's gavel was temporary...They shoved through the most progressive ideological policies known to man." — Nancy Mace (04:30)
• On Democratic Behavior:
  "There is a lot of mental illness within the Democrat Party. That's the only way I can explain some of the transgender ideology." — Nancy Mace (13:07)
• On Political Courage:
  "It's going to take courage, and it's going to take not being afraid of moderates or the left or independents." — Nancy Mace (15:38)
• On Her Own District:
  "I took my district from a plus 1R to a plus 18R...it was because of the way that I work hard and the way that I'm very honest in the way that I talk about issues." — Nancy Mace (15:46)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 02:09 — Mace on Congressional dysfunction and legislative stalemate
• 04:24 — “Bloodbath” prediction and lessons from Pelosi’s leadership
• 06:06 — South Carolina’s growth and battles with “woke” ideology
• 08:11 — Federalism and state divergence in policy
• 10:25 — Trump’s performance and what more can be done
• 12:49 — The “mental illness” claim about the left
• 15:36 — Mace’s blueprint for GOP victory and her personal electoral success

Closing Tone & Takeaway

Nancy Mace delivers a candid, sometimes bracing, assessment of the state of the GOP, Congressional inertia, and America’s political divide. She advocates for bold, unapologetic conservatism and hard work as the only path to victory, warning that timidity and inaction will spell certain defeat. The episode is marked by Mace’s directness, eschewing political niceties for raw opinion—a tone very much in line with The Rubin Report’s commitment to “real conversations, real news.”