Behind the headlines: Helping my friend through a 48-hour media firestorm
A PR pro stepped up when a confrontation with a congresswoman went viral.
Brad Gorman is the founder of Gorman Strategies. Follow him on LinkedIn.
“You’re on after the pope.”
That’s what a CNN producer said in my ear at 11:45 p.m., just moments before I coached a friend through his first-ever TV interview — one that would be seen live by half a million Americans.
Hours earlier, he was just a voter asking a question.
This became a real-time case study in power, public perception, and the media dynamics we all live in now.
A viral moment
My friend Ely Murray-Quick asked South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace a simple question: Would she be hosting a town hall this year? Rather than answer, she went on the offensive — dropping the F-bomb, recording the exchange, and posting it to her own social media, framing it as an attack by a “left-wing lunatic.” The clip exploded online.
As someone who has spent my career helping people raise their voices, standing up for the public good, and working with the media, I offered to help. My goal was to protect him and help him share his story accurately in the flurry of media that I knew was coming.
Rapid response
Within minutes, Ely was being attacked online. The bullying was personal, homophobic and often started by Mace herself. A sitting member of Congress mocked his “daisy dukes,” questioned his gender and commented on his body parts — publicly, to millions of followers.
There was no comms team. No crisis plan. Just us.
The media reached out trying to make sense of the story, wanting to know who started it and why this mystery man approached her, as the video racked up tens of millions of views. We shared the full video from his POV, showing that Ely calmly and respectfully asked his question about town halls. We responded to every media inquiry we could, shared the video, authenticated identity and did so many interviews on both phone and zoom. It was covered everywhere from Rolling Stone and People to TMZ and even The Times of India.
We even landed a spot to have him on CNN that night. Mace’s team caught wind of this and went on Sean Hannity to get ahead of it — spreading misinformation and trying to discredit him first a few hours before his interview.
Getting him through it
This was Ely’s first time on national television. And he was under attack by an elected official, it was the middle of the night, and he knew the whole country was watching.
I drove four hours to be there in person. We prepped for every tough question, practiced how to pause and stay grounded, and talked about how to respond if he didn’t want to answer something.
He handled it with more calm and clarity than some seasoned CEOs I’ve worked with.
More than anything, we kept the focus on what mattered: the right of any person to ask a question without being vilified.
At the end of the day the media kept coming and after CNN, we could rest knowing we did everything we could to get the facts out there.
What I learned
This experience is a reminder of important shifts happening in the news industry:
- We don’t break the stories anymore—the internet does.
- The user-generated newsroom is real, and it’s relentless.
- First-time voices need support. Ely almost turned down the CNN interview. If he had, the narrative would’ve been left to internet commentators, Fox News and X.
- We need better tools to help people speak up when things take off. If there were a nonprofit PR hotline for everyday people suddenly in the spotlight? I’d be the first to volunteer.
In today’s world, the mic is always on. A clip can go viral at any time. One voice can spark a national conversation and put someone without a PR team in the crosshairs.
I’m disappointed I couldn’t do more to stop the harassment, the misinformation and the death threats that still follow my friend today. I never expected to pause my client work or job searches to help a friend through this, but when an elected official uses their platform to bully a voter for asking a question, silence isn’t an option.
This moment reminded me why communication work matters. It’s about helping people stand in their truth and be authentically heard. That feels like part of my job now. And I’m honored to show up for it — daisy dukes and all.
Great insights and I especially like this idea of having better tools to help people speak up with things take off — like a nonprofit PR hotline!!
way to go Bradley. I’m so proud of you.
Yes! In the meantime Since one doesn’t exist, feel free to reach out if you see anyone that needs help with something. 💯
Ely is lucky to have you!