Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) triggered a fierce social media reaction late Thursday after suggesting that the alleged assault involving the group dubbed the “Cornell 7” was consensual rather than rape. Her blunt post quickly drew millions of views and accusations of hypocrisy.

“IDK who needs to hear this, but a consensual gangbang is not a rape,” Mace wrote on X. The message had been viewed more than 2.6 million times since she posted it late Thursday.

IDK who needs to hear this, but a consensual gangbang is not a rape.

— Nancy Mace (@NancyMace) October 9, 2026

The alleged victim, a female Cornell student identified anonymously as “Jane Doe,” has accused seven fraternity brothers of raping her. Her lawsuit prompted local authorities to reopen a criminal investigation for review by a grand jury.

Mace posted her comment after a collection of text messages surfaced this week. Those messages showed the accuser engaging in friendly conversations with some of the men following the October 2024 sexual encounter and telling them they should not “feel any shame.”

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“Our body our choice,” the accuser wrote in one message. The texts quickly became a major point of contention as the lawsuit attracted an explosion of national attention several years after the encounter.

Thomas Giuffra, the woman’s attorney in the civil case, disputed the idea that the messages cleared the men. He told the New York Post on Thursday that they reflected an early stage of her emotional and mental processing.

Giuffra said she “was going through denial, shame, and ultimately acceptance.” According to the Post, the accuser’s recollection changed in part after she saw group chats among the fraternity brothers.

Those group chats included messages advertising “free pu**y,” according to the Post. One participant later bragged that the woman had been involved in an “eightsome.”

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The reaction to Mace’s viral post was also fueled by claims she made on the House floor in February 2025. Mace said videos and photographic evidence she allegedly discovered showed her ex fiancée Patrick Bryant participating in the apparent rape of an incapacitated woman.

Mace told Congress, “The two of them, the three of them business partners, the two of them had their phones out just like this. Filming her as she was being raped.”

She continued, “And she was completely laid out. There was no movement. There was no life. I couldn’t even tell if this young woman was alive.”

Bryant emphatically denied Mace’s allegations and filed a lawsuit accusing her of “blackmail.” That lawsuit was ultimately thrown out by a Charleston judge.

An investigation by state authorities into the allegations Mace made on the House floor against Bryant reportedly remained open nearly two years later. Her previous advocacy prompted thousands of critics to charge that her Cornell comment exposed a glaring double standard.

“Welp, so much for your ‘crusade’ for women’s rights!” one person wrote in response. Another responder wrote, “And making false rape accusations to police or in court should carry the same penalty as rape.”

The Cornell case has produced sharp divisions similar to those surrounding the 2006 alleged gang rape case involving Duke University lacrosse players. Those players were falsely accused of sexually assaulting an exotic dancer during a team party in Durham, North Carolina.

Authorities and news outlets were quick to believe that accuser, who was later completely discredited. The local district attorney eventually resigned in disgrace.

Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said the Cornell accuser’s current account differs from the account his office considered after the incident. He also explained why no charges were filed in 2024.

“She never says that she was drugged without her knowledge. She admits to taking drugs and alcohol voluntarily and with knowledge. She does not allege that she was forced to engage in any acts. She does not say that she was physically helpless or unconscious or incapacitated at any point during the time at the fraternity house,” Van Houten told ABC News.

Mace, who has served three terms in Congress, finished a distant fifth in her state’s Republican primary for governor earlier this year. She has said she will move into the private sector after leaving office but plans to remain active in political commentary.

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