A Republican member of Congress who has been a vocal opponent of campus antisemitism told a progressive Jewish Democrat on Wednesday to “get your nose done.”
Rep. Sara Jacobs and multiple progressive watchdogs denounced Rep. Nancy Mace’s comments as antisemitic.
Mace directed the comment at Jacobs, a California congresswoman, on the social network X, in the midst of a spat over health care for transgender women.
“To @RepSaraJacobs, I talk about women’s safety and your response is commentary about my body on the House floor,” Mace wrote Wednesday. “If you knew anything about survivors you would know some women change their bodies because of the trauma of sexual violence. They live with the consequences for a lifetime.”
She then added, “PS – I have a good surgeon if you ever want to get your nose done.”
Jacobs responded, “I didn’t say anything about your body but thanks for confirming! And going with the Jewish nose joke…very creative (and also very antisemitic).”
U.S. Congresswoman Sara Jacobs poses at the San Diego “No Kings” march on June 14, 2025 in San Diego, California. (Daniel Knighton/Getty Images)
The idea that Jewish noses are unattractive is a longstanding antisemitic stereotype that has in the past fueled widespread use of cosmetic surgery by Jewish women.
The Nexus Project, a left-leaning antisemitism watchdog group, said on the rival social network BlueSky that Mace’s comments were “antisemitic, schoolyard bullying about their Jewish colleagues’ noses generally, and especially in a post about respecting women’s bodies.”
The Jewish Democratic Council of America also denounced the comments. “Telling a Jewish woman to get a nose job is antisemitism,” it said in a statement on social media. “Full stop.”
The spat came amid a debate between the two lawmakers on the House floor over a proposed Mace amendment to a defense spending budget that would have restricted transgender service members from accessing certain health care procedures and using the restroom that corresponds to their gender identity.
Addressing Mace, Jacobs had defended “gender-affirming care” by noting that many of her colleagues had received procedures that could be classified as such.
“I think it’s very interesting that my colleague from South Carolina is so obsessed with the issue of trans people, using horrible slurs to talk about them when many people in this body have received gender-affirming care,” Jacobs said. “Filler is gender-affirming care. Boob jobs is gender-affirming care. Botox is gender-affirming care. Lots of my colleagues have received gender-affirming care.”
Mace shot back, “Absolutely ridiculous.” She followed up with her nose comment on social media shortly after.
Mace, who has frequently made comments disparaging transgender people after taking a more moderate stance earlier in her career, has also sought to style herself as a warrior for Israel and against antisemitism. She has met with the Anti-Defamation League to discuss college campuses, supported a full federal defunding of Harvard University over charges the school harbored antisemitism, and hosted a press conference with the Orthodox student group Olami to advocate for changes to the Department of Education’s handling of campus antisemitism.
Last month she announced a run for South Carolina governor, calling herself “Trump in high heels.”
Jacobs has family members in Israel and has found herself walking the tightrope of many Jewish progressives after Oct. 7. She also revealed this week that she had undergone a process to freeze her eggs so she could defer having children until she is older, an option she said she believes should be accessible to U.S. women.
Jacobs, who says she has a trans sibling and another who is gender-nonconforming, said Mace “is intentionally targeting a vulnerable group of people because she wants the attention. It is cruel. It is malintended. And it is not just about ‘she said something wrong once.’ This has been a very strategic targeted approach she has taken.” She did not further mention the nose comment.
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