Michael Eric Dyson slams congresswoman Nancy Mace’s claims he flirted with her in text, accuses her of trying to ‘exploit the situation’

Michael Eric Dyson has slammed suggestions that he was flirting with Congresswoman Nancy Mace after she accused him of calling her a racist in an interview with CNN last month.

The interview with the South Carolina lawmaker and Vanderbilt professor made headlines after Mace repeatedly mispronounced Vice President Kamala Harris’ name during the interview and refused to correct herself. Dyson never called her a racist on air, but he explained why her behavior was problematic.

“When you disrespect Kamala Harris by saying you can call her whatever you want, I know that’s not your intention, that’s the history and legacy of white disregard for the humanity of black people,” Dyson told Mace in the interview.

During a congressional hearing Thursday, Mace showed her fellow lawmakers a screenshot of a message Dyson sent her that included a photograph the pair took after a CNN interview that portrayed them as flirtatious.

“He says in this piece, after he called me a racist on CNN, ‘Don’t tell anyone we look good together,’ and he sent me a kissy face emoji,” the South Carolina lawmaker said at a hearing Thursday. “Then the guy says I’m gorgeous in all these pictures. I don’t think he’s that bothered by how someone pronounces Kamala. And if we’re going to have that standard, it has to be applied to both sides, not just one or the other.”6

Dyson posted a response on Instagram, fuming over Mace’s behavior during the hearing. He read the entire exchange with Mace and explained that he was joking about how united they looked in photos taken after the CNN interview, given their very different political positions.

“I’m not hitting on Nancy Mace. This is a woman trying to take advantage of a situation, trying to pretend I’m trying to hit on her,” Dyson said. “You’re trying to generate meanness and cruelty because you’re so bitter about getting your ass kicked that night because I told you that night what you were doing was wrong,” he said of Mace.

He also condemned Mace’s characterization of the intentions behind the lyrics as “malicious”, “misleading” and ultimately “racist”.

“Your attempt is sad and pathetic, but your bigoted and racist attempt will fail,” Dyson noted. “There was no attempt to do anything other than be nice to you, but you have proven to be what I said you are not — a cruel, white supremacist racist who is incapable of accepting the generosity and kindness of a black man. You are a pathetic, sick soul.”

While some web users found the text flirtatious, others got here to Dyson’s defense.

“This is a very strategic framing of this interaction for her to do exactly this. Why didn’t she share the entire exchange?” one person said.

“She’s clearly trying to extend her 15 minutes of shame on TV. Time to let it go,” one other comment read.