The Daily Populous Wednesday February 4th, 2026 morning edition
Authored by dailydot.com and submitted by RhythmMethodMan

A new exposé from New York Magazine alleges that South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace directed her congressional staff to upvote her in Reddit polls ranking the "hottest" women in Congress.

Former aides described an office environment consumed by image management, claiming Mace was "very adamant" about boosting posts focused on her appearance, a detail that seemed to overshadow broader allegations of abusive workplace behavior.

The bombshell report published on Monday draws on stories from staff members who have worked for Mace since she took office in 2021.

Multiple interviewees said her behavior became more confrontational and erratic as the months went by, culminating in a nearly hour-long "scorched earth" speech on the House floor on Feb. 11, 2026.

Mace accused her ex-fiancé, Patrick Bryant, and three other men of physical and sexual assault and rape, among other crimes.

"We were scared of her," said a former aide. "She would make staffers cry. She would threaten to fire them, take their money away, not give them raises, not to give them days off, religious days."

New York Magazine: Nancy Mace had staffers vote in “hottest women” poll

Nancy Mace allegedly instructed a staffer to go on Reddit forums about the “hottest women in Congress” to boost her standing in the rankings and comment where needed.

Mace was “very adamant” about getting… https://t.co/ENNWq9Wd2g pic.twitter.com/077nzfU6jY — Politics & Poll Tracker ? (@PollTracker2024) February 2, 2026

As a Mace spokesperson threatened lawsuits, the chronically online focused on one particular detail. The article states that Mace directed staff to vote for her in Reddit polls ranking the most attractive congresswomen.

"Mace was 'very adamant' about getting the staffer to upvote any posts about the congresswoman and her attractiveness, according to a second former staffer," reported Jake Lahut.

Mace's director of operations Cameron Morabito told New York Magazine: "These allegations are so ridiculous they don’t even merit a response. I hope she sues you for every dime you got paid to write this defamatory bullsh*t."

Memes, mockery, and "stop the count" jokes take over

Naturally, word of this soon spread to Reddit. Community members were floored by the concept of government workers voting on the platform's hotness ranking polls.

The post on r/Fauxmoi already has five "mind blown" awards.

"I’ve read all of that and I can only say… W. T. F.," said u/SugarCanDee.

Meanwhile, on X, people are trying to guess which Reddit posts Mace's suffering staffers had to vote on. Perhaps it was the one comparing her to Rep. Lauren Boebert? Or the poll ranking congresswomen in bikinis?

This might’ve been the Reddit poll Nancy Mace was trying to rig

It asked which politician is hotter: Mace or Boebert? pic.twitter.com/9JoO1cLIof — Politics & Poll Tracker ? (@PollTracker2024) February 2, 2026

"The 'everyone is twelve' theory guy remains undefeated," @NickB1016 declared.

Mace, meanwhile, took to X to call the story a "hit piece," alleging that "all the establishment is coming after me again."

As NY Mag publishes the next national hit piece against me tomorrow, the establishment doesn’t go after people who fall in line. They go after people who don’t. I’ll take that as a compliment.

When you stand for something, you make enemies. I’ve never let that stop me from doing… pic.twitter.com/WYdU8BKJCg — Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) February 2, 2026

"When you stand for something, you make enemies," she added.

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deadfisher on February 4th, 2026 at 03:22 UTC »

I watched the video where she's crying about the establishment writing a hit piece on her "that's just what the establishment does."

Motherfucker, you're a congresswoman and your party is in charge of everything. You are the establishment.

IamAWorldChampionAMA on February 4th, 2026 at 03:15 UTC »

She made her aides upvote posts like this. Can you imagine coming into to work and your boss comes up to you and says "I need you to upvote a post on Reddit about my nipples"

Big-D-TX on February 4th, 2026 at 02:32 UTC »

My God she’s scary looking