Rep. Nancy Mace’s (R-S.C.) sarcastic congratulatory message to New York City didn’t go as she planned.
On Tuesday, Zohran Mamdani made history by being elected as not only NYC’s youngest mayor in more than a century, but also the city’s first Muslim and South Asian mayor. The news didn’t exactly fill Mace with immense joy — and she took to X to share her feelings.
“Bread lines about to be a real thing in New York. Congrats,” Mace wrote on Tuesday, presumably a reference to Mamdani’s democratic socialist platform that his right-wing critics claim will bring economic ruin to the city.
According to Merriam-Webster, a breadline is defined as “a line of people waiting to receive food,” which makes Mace’s statement ironic given the ongoing government shutdown and its impact on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
At midnight on Sept. 30, the government shut down due to Democrats and Republicans failing to reach a consensus on health care funding for the American people. The Trump administration put SNAP benefits on pause on Nov. 1, claiming there wasn’t enough money to pay them out during the shutdown. (On Thursday, a Rhode Island judge ordered the administration find the money and fully fund benefits for the month.)
The irony was not lost on social media users, many of whom quickly pointed out the role Mace and fellow Republicans played in the suspension of SNAP.
Tracy Glantz/The State/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
“You guys are literally starving children by withholding SNAP benefits,” one user wrote.
Another commented, “There’s breadlines in all of America right now due to Trump holding SNAP hostage.”
Others continued to highlight how Mace’s party has affected Americans’ access to SNAP benefits.
“Republicans started bread lines already by refusing to release SNAP funds,” another stated.
Progressive YouTuber Brian Tyler Cohen even shared a video showing a lengthy breadline from Oct. 31 ― the day before SNAP benefits were set to go on pause ― and captioned the post, “This breadline is literally from last week under Republican control of the House, Senate, and White House.”