Trump-endorsed candidate's staffer hit with assault allegation by GOP lawmaker's team (original) (raw)

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) (Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr)

Rep. Nancy Mace's campaign lodged an assault allegation against an ally of her Donald Trump-endorsed rival

The president endorsed South Carolina Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette in the state's gubernatorial race against Mace, whose "war room" X account shared a video clip claiming a member of the lieutenant governor's finance committee had violently attacked one of the congresswoman's supporters.

"Last night a member of Pamela Evette's finance committee attacked a @NancyMace supporter outside an event," the account posted. "This type of behavior is DISGUSTING. Pam must immediately denounce VIOLENCE from her team. This is unbecoming for a Lt. Governor and someone who wants to be our next governor."

The independent FITS News reported Tuesday that Blake Kirsch, a member of the lieutenant governor's finance team, was arrested Monday in Greer and charged with assault, but the outlet has not confirmed that's in connection with the video posted by Mace's team.

The 37-second clip shows a man walk past wearing a red, white and blue ball cap that he then takes off, which the woman filming the video suggests is a sign he intends to engage in mischief, and he then approaches another person who's shouting through a bullhorn at an Evette campaign bus.

"This dude in a Pamela Evette hat, like, just walked by like he's about to do something," the woman says. "That dude right there in the plaid, yeah, he's one of the guys. He just pulled his hat off like he's about to go do something."

The first man then grabs the bullhorn and wrests it away from the other person, but the video clip cuts off at that point, so it's not clear whether he runs away or engages with other man any further.

Voters head to the polls Tuesday in the South Carolina primary election, and the final polling in the GOP race show it remains wide open.

The latest Trafalgar Group poll shows Pamela Evette leading with 23.5 percent, followed by Alan Wilson at 18.5 percent, Rom Reddy at 17.9 percent, Ralph Norman at 14.6 percent and Nancy Mace at 12.7 percent, while another survey released Friday by Interactive Polls found Wilson ahead at 18.8 percent with Evette close behind at 18.0 percent.