ST. HELENA ISLAND, S.C. () — Representative Nancy Mace spoke on several issues at a town hall on St. Helena Island, some of which prompted dozens to walk out Wednesday afternoon.

At the start of the event, every seat was filled, but, as it progressed, some attendees got up from their seats in protest.

The town hall was held in a private, gated community. Some social media users posted about unhappy in the choice of where the town hall was held.

Near the entrance, protesters could be seen holding signs with phrases like, “Mace afraid to face us” and “hold a real town hall.”

“These are people who are organizing calls and flooding the office with thousands of calls a week over a fake town hall. Their outrage is fake,” Mace said of the protesters.

The event comes just days after Rep. Mace’s controversial post to “X” that showed her arguing with a constituent inside an Ulta store about when she would have a public town hall

Once inside, Mace took a series of prescreened questions, several about funding for Social Security and Medicaid programs.

“I’m on Medicare,” attendee Bob Hydorn, said. “I’m 75, but I keep hearing through DOGE that they’re looking at Medicaid. I know people that have nothing but Medicaid. What are we to do, let them lay there and die?”

When the moderator asked Mace if she supported the work of DOGE without limits, she said, “If he can find all the waste, fraud, and abuse, I am 100% all in on DOGE. I love Elon Musk.”

However, one of her biggest talking points of the night was foreign affairs.

“I want to see peace, but in order to have peace, there has to be a negotiation,” Mace said. “If Zelensky wanted to keep Crimea, he should’ve fought for it 11 years ago, 2013, 2014.”

Her words prompted dozens of people to get up and leave, some confronting her directly.

“Zelensky wasn’t president in 2024, so how was he going to protect Crimea?” one person questioned from the back of the room before exiting.

On the walkout, attendee Paul Pruitt, who supports Mace, said “I didn’t like that, but it is what it is. They have the right to do whatever they want.”

Mace said her office received an invitation Wednesday to appear at a town hall on Hilton Head Island, and her office is in the process of scheduling that event, with several more town halls anticipated to happen this year.

“I think she could have a town hall in Beaufort. I’d encourage her to do that. She needs to hear from all constituents,” attendee Kevin Ryan said.