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Congresswoman Nancy Mace blasted Clemson University after claiming the school's dorm application offered students a dropdown menu listing a staggering 15 gender identities.
The South Carolina Republican immediately called the university's president before going on social media to blast the move as 'radical, woke, leftist, lunatic ideology.'
Mace, 47, has positioned herself at the front lines of America's culture war over gender and biology and made the video after the list was flagged by the conservative account Libs of TikTok.
The application, linked to health services for Clemson students, included options such as 'genderqueer,' 'two-spirit,' 'cis female,' and 'cis male.'
But for Mace, who has made defending what she calls 'basic science' a central pillar of her platform, the list represented more than just an administrative choice.
It was, she argued, a direct affront to taxpayers and South Carolina families.
'Hey everyone, just learned this morning from Libs of TikTok - not from your state legislature - that Clemson University in South Carolina has 15 genders on one of their applications,' Mace said in a sharply worded video posted to Instagram.
'We want to make sure South Carolina is following science and not some radical, woke, leftist, lunatic ideology. Not on my watch.'
Congresswoman Nancy Mace has blasted her home state's public university after it was alleged how a Clemson University health portal offered students a dropdown menu listing a staggering 15 gender identities
The South Carolina Republican took to social media to blast the move as 'radical, woke, leftist, lunatic ideology'
the list was flagged by the conservative account Libs of TikTok
The video saw Mace address the camera directly and quickly racked up tens of thousands of views within hours.
Mace immediately followed up taking action herself leaving a voicemail and sending a text message to Clemson University President Jim Clements demanding clarification.
'Since there are only two genders I just had this issue with USC, and I would like to make sure that you guys are following suit,' Mace told Clements.
The controversial form, which allowed students to select from a range of gender identities beyond male and female, was not part of Clemson's housing application, the university later clarified in a statement to Fox News.
Instead, the dropdown menu appeared in an external vendor's health services portal - not under the direct control of the university - and has since been removed.
'Clemson University does not have this type of menu in its housing application,' the school said.
'The optional question was included on a health services vendor form, which has since been taken down. Clemson is consulting with medical professionals to determine what information is needed for medical care purposes.'
Unimpressed by the university's explanation, Mace doubled down on her threat to challenge state funding for schools that recognize more than two genders.
Mace has made defending what she calls 'basic science' a central pillar of her platform
The controversial form, which allowed students to select from a range of gender identities beyond male and female, was not part of Clemson's housing application, the university said
'If it were me and Clemson University had 15 genders, they would not get a dime in the state of South Carolina,' she declared.
The congresswoman also took aim at the language used on the form itself, calling out the use of the term 'cisgender,' a label for people whose gender identity matches their biological sex.
'Cis is a slur,' Mace said firmly in her video. 'Women are women, men are men.'
The phrase echoed a broader message that Mace has championed in recent months - a campaign she frames as a fight to preserve biological definitions of sex in law and policy, especially when it comes to public institutions funded by taxpayers.
Mace has often invited confrontation, posting to her social media videos of conflicts with protesters and people who come to her events.
Her aggressive stance on gender identity issues has already made national headlines this year.
She recently led the effort to block Democratic Rep. Sarah McBride of Delaware - a biological male who identifies as female - from using women's restrooms on Capitol Hill.
'You can put on a mini skirt all you want but that doesn't make you a woman,' Mace wrote in November when she introduced the bathroom ban. 'And you shouldn't be allowed in our private spaces.'
The move was met with fierce criticism from LGBTQ advocates and progressive lawmakers.
But the backlash appears to have only strengthened Mace's resolve.
An outspoken crusader against transgender people, Mace has sought to ban trans people from using their preferred bathrooms on Capitol Hill and other federal facilities
'All the violence and threats keep proving our point,' she wrote in a post on X earlier this year. 'Women deserve to be safe. Your threats will not stop my fight for women! Not now, not ever.'
Mace's rhetoric carries personal weight. She is the first woman to graduate from The Citadel, South Carolina's historically all-male military college, and has frequently invoked her background as part of her political identity.
Last year, she reported being physically attacked on Capitol grounds, an incident that led to the arrest of a 33-year-old man from Illinois.
Clemson officials are now left working through damage control.
Although the university insists the menu was not its own website and was simply part of a vendor's health portal, the fallout has already intensified scrutiny of how campus systems handle gender-related data.
In its statement, Clemson said it is now 'consulting with medical professionals to determine what information is needed for medical care purposes'.
Earlier in the week, South Carolina Congresswoman Nancy Mace got into a vicious argument with a man wearing 'Daisy Dukes' at an Ulta store after he asked her a question
The 47-year-old, dressed in blue skinny jeans, a jean top and heels, pulled out her phone inside the Charleston store, recorded the man in the middle of the skin care aisle and accused him of 'harassing' her
The exchange comes just days after the 47-year-old Congresswoman got into a vicious argument with a man wearing 'Daisy Dukes' at an Ulta store.
She filmed the interaction with the stranger, later identified as Ely Murray-Quick, in the middle of the skin care aisle and accused him of 'harassing' her.
He had approached her to ask if she was going to host any more town hall meetings this year.
The man - dressed in green shorts, a white button down and white sneakers - also recorded Mace. He appeared calm in the beginning, but his tone changed as they continued to interact.
Despite the interaction initially appearing friendly, it soon descended into chaos after Mace told him, unprompted, she 'voted for gay marriage twice.'
The man, seemingly confused by her statement, looked around the store in shock before asking her: 'What does that have to do with me?'
'I'm just saying. It has everything to do with you,' Mace, dressed in blue skinny jeans, a denim top and heels, told him.
He inched a bit closer to her and said: 'You think everything about me has to do with gay marriage?'
Later in the exchange, Mace shouted 'F*** you!,' as he came back and replied: 'F*** me? And you're gonna be voted out so fast this year. I can't wait for you to f***ing go into the dirt.'
Murray-Quick later said Mace 'decided to tell me to f**k myself,' though he said that as a gay man in the south, 'I've had my fair share of hurtful insults thrown my way.'
'So a simple 'f**k you' from Nancy Mace isn't going to hurt me the way that she thinks it does.
'Nancy Mace likes to play the victim card, but that's not what happened here. I asked a simple question. As a resident of the state of South Carolina and she couldn't she couldn't answer it. She couldn't meet the demand of the people.'
And in February, Mace triggered Democrat lawmaker Gary Connolly after allegedly using the term 'tr**nies' casually.
When Connolly sought clarification about whether the word is allowed in the chamber, she shouted 'Tr**ny, tr**ny, tr**ny!'
'I don't really care,' she continued defiantly, surprising those in attendance. 'You want penises in women's bathrooms and I'm not going to have it.'
'No thank you,' she continued. 'It's disgusting.'
Mace demanded Delaware Democrat Sarah McBride, the first transgender person elected to Congress, not be allowed into women's bathroom facilities around Congress
Around the same time, she demanded Delaware Democrat Sarah McBride not be allowed into women's facilities around Congress.
McBride, the first transgender person elected to Congress, has agreed to abide by the rules after Speaker of the House Mike Johnson endorsed Mace's proposal.
Since first winning the South Carolina GOP presidential primary in 2016, Trump has remained popular in the state, although Mace's district is the only one he didn't win as he sought the 2024 Republican nomination.
In that contest, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley who also served as Trump's United Nations ambassador - bested her former boss in the 1st District but lost the state as a whole.
Going on to win the nomination and the general election, Trump also backed Mace in her own campaign last year, and she has said she plans to seek his support in future campaigns.
Mace's district is the only one in South Carolina to have switched party control in recent decades.
The 1st District, which spans South Carolina´s southeastern coast in what's known as the Lowcountry, was held by a Democrat for a single term until Mace won it back for Republicans in 2020.
