CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – A leading strategist for U.S. Representative Nancy Mace’s anticipated 2026 gubernatorial campaign in South Carolina announced his departure on Monday. He cited her repeated distancing from former President Trump’s MAGA movement as his reason for stepping down.

Austin McCubbin, a staunch Trump supporter who previously managed Mace’s 2022 House re-election effort, expressed his decision in a December 1 post on X. He emphasized his allegiance to Trump, urging voters to “remove her name from the list” of Republican candidates.

“My loyalty is with President Trump, my campaign colleagues, and the MAGA base that I proudly served as the Team Trump SC State Director,” McCubbin stated. “Governor McMaster has demonstrated unwavering support for the President. South Carolina deserves a leader of similar integrity, someone whose word is their bond.”

In response to McCubbin’s comments, a spokesperson for Mace’s campaign remarked: “Mr. McCubbin neither contributed financially to the campaign nor showed any real involvement. When he demanded a $10,000 monthly fee for ‘services’ and was refused, he immediately took to X. We wish him luck with that approach.”

McCubbin cited a recent revelation of a purported connection between Mace and a political action committee linked to Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, a frequent Trump adversary, as the final straw in his decision to sever ties.

“Last month the Rand Paul-affiliated Protect Freedom PAC began spending money on Nancy’s behalf,” he wrote. “I had no prior knowledge of that, and campaigns can’t control outside spending. I chalked it up to nothing but independent activity.”

But after speaking with her, McCubbin claimed it became clear she “totally embraced” the funds and that she told him she directed a friend to write a seven-figure check to the PAC.

McCubbin suggested Mace brushed off his warnings about the potential political risk of aligning herself with Paul, whose positions consistently put him at odds with the president and the MAGA base, in a ruby-red state like South Carolina, where Trump is overwhelmingly popular.

He also invoked Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie (R), who recently feuded with Trump over the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. Mace was one of three Republican women to join Massie’s discharge petition that forced a vote on compelling the Justice Department to publicize Epstein-related documents.

“She distanced herself, and now she’s fully embracing the Rand Paul + Thomas Massie wing for money,” McCubbin wrote. “Nancy Mace is wittingly or unwittingly a proxy for Rand Paul’s 2028 presidential campaign.”

His exit from the campaign marks a stunning shift for McCubbin, who backed Mace as the most “pro-Trump and America First governor in the country” if elected when he joined it just months ago in August.

The GOP contest in next year’s gubernatorial race has turned into an all-out fight to secure the president’s coveted endorsement, with each candidate working to prove their fidelity to the base.  

“Nancy Mace has stood with President Trump since Day ONE,” a spokesperson for Mace’s campaign continued in a Dec. 1 statement responding to McCubbin’s post. “Mr. McCubbin said it himself: ‘Nancy Mace will be the most pro-Trump and America First Governor in the country.’”

Nearly 80% of registered Republican voters in South Carolina, according to a Winthrop Poll released in late October, said Trump’s endorsement is important to them when deciding whom to support as the nominee.