CNN Personality Melts Down Publicly After Nancy Mace Exposes Salacious Texts
During a Congressional hearing on Thursday, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) dropped a bombshell on a prominent CNN personality, Professor Michael Eric Dyson. Dyson found himself on the defensive after Mace exposed flirtatious private messages he allegedly sent her following a contentious CNN segment.
Mace, a vocal conservative known for her willingness to confront the mainstream media, accused Dyson of hypocrisy, revealing that while he harshly criticized her on-air, he was sending her complimentary, even flirtatious, messages in private. The controversy traces back to an August appearance on CNN, where Mace and Dyson clashed over her pronunciation of Vice President Kamala Harris’ name.
Dyson accused Mace of intentionally mispronouncing Harris’ name as an act of disrespect, suggesting that her behavior reflected deeper racial insensitivity. “You misjudged her,” Dyson declared during the segment, while Democratic strategist Keith Boykin jumped in to agree with Dyson’s critique. But it wasn’t just the on-air altercation that grabbed headlines.
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On Thursday, Mace took her opportunity in Congress to expose a different side of Dyson’s interactions. She unveiled private texts sent by Dyson after the show, revealing a stark contrast between his public condemnation and his private praise.
“After calling me racist on CNN, he sent me a kissy emoji,” Mace told the room, reading directly from Dyson’s text messages. According to Mace, Dyson’s messages included comments like, “Don’t tell anybody we look good together” and praise for her appearance. She pointed out the irony of Dyson publicly calling her racist while privately praising her looks, adding, “If we’re going to hold this standard, you’ve got to hold it to both sides.”
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Unsurprisingly, Dyson did not like the accusations. In a public statement, the Vanderbilt professor accused Mace of fabricating the story to discredit him. He allegedly read the full-text exchange in a video posted to social media, claiming that his comments were taken out of context. Dyson explained that his messages were part of a lighthearted interaction following the CNN segment, in which he and Mace had been encouraged to take a photo together by host Abby Phillip. He further insisted that his comments, including the kissy emoji, were part of an effort to be polite and courteous, not flirtatious.
He then went on the offensive, calling Mace’s accusations “ridiculous lies” and accusing her of being a “racially charged, small-minded, bigoted person.” Dyson further added that Mace was trying to exploit the situation to play victim and score political points. In his impassioned video, Dyson reiterated that he was not “hitting on” Mace and pointed out that he frequently compliments others, including male colleagues, without any romantic intentions.
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“You are a racially charged, small-minded, bigoted person who is trying to exploit a situation to try to make people believe that I was hitting on you,” Dyson said. “When I’ve just now read the entire exchange, which is false, I’ve read other exchanges with people where I’ve called them gorgeous and wasn’t trying to hit on them. And so your attempt is sad and sorry, but your bigoted racist attempt will not succeed.”
In the aftermath, many have praised Mace for exposing the hypocrisy of figures like Dyson, who publicly champion social justice causes while engaging in questionable behavior behind the scenes.