SWANSEA, S.C.  In Washington, Representative Joe Wilson of South Carolina was sharply criticized by both Democrats and his fellow Republicans for shouting “You lie!” during President Obama’s health care address on Wednesday. But here in his strongly Republican Congressional district on Thursday, he was celebrated by many of his constituents for his outburst.

“Yeah, it was rude, but somebody needed to say it,” said Susan Wahl, 41, a homemaker in this town of 800 outside Columbia. “Ordinary people can’t just get up and tell Obama he lied. He said something we all wanted to say.”

In a state famous for both its gentility and its rebelliousness, Mr. Wilson earned praise from voters who admired his message, if not his delivery.

“I kind of want to defend Representative Wilson,” said Mendel Lindler, 63, an insurance salesman in Lexington, a Columbia suburb. “The president has been trying to shove something down our throats, and Representative Wilson said, ‘Hold on here.’ ”