CHARLESTON, S.C. — A Trump-backed South Carolina GOP congressional candidate lashed out at the former president's acting White House chief of staff in a series of text messages this week after he told a national news outlet she was "not the best candidate by any stretch of the imagination."
Screenshots of the antagonistic text messages exchanged between Republican candidate Katie Arrington and former Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C., were obtained and reviewed by The State newspaper Wednesday afternoon.
In statements provided to the newspaper, neither Arrington's campaign nor Mulvaney denied the authenticity of the screenshots or the content of the messages.
The contentious, private back-and-forth between two Republicans, who are also former Trump-era government officials, illustrates just how heated this congressional primary race is becoming with less than three months to go before the election.
It also shows how high the stakes are in a primary contest that could be a critical test of whether Trump's influence over the GOP is here to stay weeks after Trump held a rally in Florence to boost Arrington and state Rep. Russell Fry, who is challenging U.S. Rep. Tom Rice, R-S.C.
Trump, so far, has endorsed eight GOP challengers over sitting House Republicans this midterm election cycle, and two of them are in South Carolina.
According to screenshots of the text messages, Arrington initiated the back-and-forth with Mulvaney on Monday morning, firing off the first text at 9:21 a.m.
It came nearly fours hours after NBC News published a story about the Republican primary race unfolding in South Carolina's coastal and suburban 1st District, in which Mulvaney was quoted saying, "She's not the best candidate by any stretch of the imagination."
Mulvaney has endorsed incumbent U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., in the primary contest over Arrington, Trump's preferred pick for the Charleston-anchored seat that wraps around much of the Lowcountry.
"You really are a true piece of s---", Arrington texted Mulvaney.
"Ha! You have no idea," Mulvaney wrote back. "What did I do now?"
Then, Arrington unloaded.
"You're just not the person I thought you were," she said, warning him she had text messages of her own between them from back in 2018. The nature of those 2018 texts is unclear and was never specified in the 15-message exchange Monday morning.
"don't worry," Arrington texted Mulvaney. "I'll keep all those text From back in 2018 and I'll let you talk to me about while we work together in the Trump administration"
"I won't make those public and make you look like a jack a--", she continued. "Because then you really would look like the piece of s--- that you turning out to be"
Mulvaney shot back with sarcasm.
"Excellent. Godspeed and piece of s--- in consecutive texts," he typed back. "You need to realize that you might be unstable."
"Also: punctuation," Mulvaney wrote before sending her a wink emoji.
But Arrington kept going, saying that she just "can't stand two faced folks .."
"No wonder you were fired and as an Irish catholic sent to Northern Ireland," Arrington wrote.
When Trump pushed Mulvaney out as his acting White House chief of staff, he replaced him with North Carolina U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows. Mulvaney was then made a special envoy for Northern Ireland.
Arrington kept going, and dug in further.
"Funny how you never correct reports when they have your job title incorrect and remind them you were only acting," she said.
Mulvaney took issue with her comment about his faith. "And now we have religion," he said. "Again: you may be unfit for office. Seriously. It may be time for some deep introspection."
"Ditto," Arrington wrote before sending the three-letter abbreviation for the word "please."
Before serving in the Trump administration, Mulvaney was a South Carolina congressman and a founding member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, a group of fiscal hard-liners known for their rabble-rousing and for standing up to Republican leadership.
In addition to being acting White House chief of staff for just over 14 months, Mulvaney held various political posts during the entirety of the Trump administration, including acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and director of the Office of Management and Budget.
His last role was a diplomatic one, where he worked as the Trump administration's special envoy to Northern Ireland.
In an interview conducted via text message with The State newspaper, Mulvaney said his comment in the NBC piece must have been what upset Arrington.
"Katie apparently took exception to a comment I made in the press that she wasn't the best candidate. If that is what set her off, then politics might not be the best place for her," Mulvaney said.
The Arrington campaign issued a comment of its own, in which it took issue with the conversation becoming public and did not address anything that was said in the back-and-forth.
"It's disappointing that Mick would leak the contents of a private conversation. Mick Mulvaney and Nancy Mace teaming up together is par for the course, considering they both used President Trump to advance their own careers, only to stab him in the back," said Chris D'Anna, a spokesman for the Arrington campaign. "We wish them nothing but the best in their quest to be the leaders of the Never Trump Movement."
Austin McCubbin, Mace's campaign manager, told The State that both Mace and Mulvaney supported Trump and continue to support his policies.
"Our opponent can't help but lie, as she seemingly does anytime her mouth is open," McCubbin said. "If that's how our opponent treats Republicans who disagree with her, how can she represent all constituents — even the ones who don't vote for her?"
This is not the first time Arrington has found herself facing questions about how she communicates privately with people who decline to endorse her candidacy.
During the 2018 general election, a phone call surfaced between Arrington and the mayor of Isle of Palms, a beach town just outside Charleston.
In that nine-minute, 33-second phone call, Arrington questioned the political loyalties of then-Mayor Jimmy Carroll, who identified as Republican but endorsed Democrat Joe Cunningham in that race largely due to Arrington's views on offshore drilling.
So far, Mace has officially drawn at least two Republican primary challengers: Arrington, a former state lawmaker and the 2018 GOP nominee who is running for this U.S. House seat again, and Lynz Piper-Loomis, a military spouse who has been endorsed by retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, a once-prominent adviser to Trump.
The primary election is June 14.
