Representative Nancy Mace is fighting back after a week of bad headlines, saying she plans to take “severe legal action” against American Airlines and Charleston International Airport following an alleged altercation with airport security. The South Carolina Republican, who is also running for governor, says she’s been defamed by what she calls a “falsified” incident report describing her as verbally abusive toward airport staff.

The report, filed last Thursday by a member of the Charleston County Aviation Authority, alleges that Mace arrived late for a scheduled security escort and reacted angrily when officers didn’t meet her at a separate entrance. According to the document, Mace began “loudly cursing and making derogatory comments,” at one point saying, “This is no way to treat a [expletive] U.S. Representative,” and, “You’d never treat Tim Scott like this.”

The reference to her fellow South Carolina Republican senator quickly became a second controversy. Senator Tim Scott publicly rejected the comparison, saying on Facebook that his experiences with airport police have always been “professional, courteous, and beyond the call of duty.”

Senator Lindsey Graham soon echoed Scott’s comments, praising airport security and saying he’d “had nothing but positive, respectful engagements” at the Charleston airport.

Mace responded by turning the story into a broader fight about gender and safety. “Interesting. Lindsey Graham all of a sudden wants to talk about women,” she wrote on X, adding, “REAL MEN PROTECT WOMEN.” In a string of follow-up posts, Mace accused her male colleagues of hypocrisy, arguing that as a woman in public life who has faced harassment and threats, she deserves better protection. “Why are two men with a half dozen personal security guards everywhere they go offended by a woman who has been assaulted for her beliefs?” she wrote.

Since the initial report surfaced, first published by Wired, Mace has flooded social media with more than 100 posts about the episode—denouncing airport officials, calling for the resignation of Charleston Airport CEO Elliot Summey, and promising defamation lawsuits. “SUING FOR DEFAMATION!!” she posted in all caps Wednesday morning, adding that she had retained legal counsel.

For now, the Charleston County Aviation Authority has not retracted or amended the report, and airport officials have declined to comment further.