Nancy Mace Attacked Drag Race Stars in Congress. Kandy Muse's Reply: 'Can I Sue?'

Nancy Mace thought using Drag Race stars as props in a congressional hearing was a solid move. The queens disagree — and at least one of them is already talking to a lawyer.

On July 22, 2026, Mace appeared at a House subcommittee hearing examining whether the Smithsonian has become, in the words of Rep. Tim Burchett, "infected by a woke ideology." The South Carolina Republican held up photographs of RuPaul, Kandy Muse, and Joey Jay as evidence that drag "sexualizes" children — connecting, without evidence, the display of drag imagery to child abuse and arguing it leaves kids vulnerable to predators.

Kandy Muse's response was two words and a link, posted to X the same day:

"can I sue?" — and yes, that's a real question. Joey Jay went further, writing on X that she was already in conversation with her attorney.

The Drag Race cast had a lot to say

The rest of the Drag Race universe piled on after a clip from the hearing circulated via the Here's Why Kevin Instagram account. Willam dropped a comment that landed like a history lesson with fangs: the Founding Fathers themselves wore powdered wigs and heeled shoes, he noted, and those men have their own honored place inside Smithsonian walls — without anyone suggesting they were a threat to children. (Thomas Jefferson, Willam was quick to add, being the exception worth footnoting.)

Cynthia Lee Fontaine left a longer Instagram comment — reported by The Advocate — that went straight at Mace's priorities. Drag performers contribute to the culture, Fontaine argued; if the congresswoman is serious about protecting children, she suggested, churches and conversion therapy would be the more urgent targets. Her sign-off: "Get your facts right sweetie."

The point lands regardless: if Mace is genuinely alarmed about harm to children, there are documented places she could be looking.

What the hearing was actually about

The subcommittee was scrutinizing a Smithsonian exhibit called "Illegal to Be You: Gay History Beyond Stonewall" — a temporary show, already closed since 2021, that traced the legal persecution of queer Americans and the long road toward equality. The leather harness Mace held up was part of that historical record.

Smithsonian Director Anthea Hartig defended the exhibit at the hearing, according to The Advocate.

RuPaul, whose photo kicked the whole thing off, has not yet commented publicly. But between Kandy's two-word legal threat and the Instagram comment section turning into a history seminar, the silence may not last long.