THE HILL
Rep. Elise Stefanik’s (R-N.Y.) stock is rapidly rising in the race to be former President Trump’s running mate.
Stefanik, the No. 4 House Republican, has become a close ally of Trump’s and has increasingly positioned herself as a betting favorite to be on the GOP presidential ticket if the front-runner wins his party’s nomination.
She’s made campaign stops to boost the former president, frequently issues statements and social media messages backing him and at times echoes his controversial language. She’s also made political and legislative moves that highlight her loyalty to Trump.
In early January, Stefanik yanked her endorsement of Craig Riedel, a GOP House candidate in Ohio, after leaked audio showed him calling Trump “arrogant” and saying he did not want the former president’s endorsement. In a post on X, she said “I was very disappointed in his inappropriate comments regarding President Trump.”
In June, Stefanik introduced a resolution to expunge Trump’s impeachment following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, taking the first step toward wiping away the punishment that some of her Republican colleagues supported. This month, she referred to Jan. 6 rioters as “hostages,” mimicking the language Trump used and received widespread criticism for.
She also endorsed the former president’s re-election campaign in November 2022 — even before he officially launched the bid — a preemptive backing that reflected her unquestionable support for the ex-commander-in-chief. But she would not commit to certifying the results of the 2024 election, saying “we will see if this is a legal and valid election.”
The GOP conference chair has also spearheaded a number of judicial complaints against judges overseeing cases involving the former president.
“The key here with Elise is this: She is in Trump’s innermost circle,” a person close to Trump and Stefanik, who requested anonymity to speak candidly, told The Hill. “He trusts her, they have regular conversations, and you know, she is his chief defender on Capitol Hill, and everyone knows it.
”A person close to the Trump campaign told The Hill that Stefanik has “been in the trenches for Trump daily … since the early impeachment hearings in the House, knocking every ball out of the park.”
“And then, of course, while we all know that she is a stalwart, then we see what she’s done in recent hearings about antisemitism, and that is a very difficult topic. It draws a lot of fire, and she never even ducked,” the source added. “That was proof of her mettle outside of Trump defense. That kind of opened up a whole other dimension of Elise Stefanik.”
Trump has certainly taken notice of Stefanik, who he called “a killer” during a dinner at Mar-a-Lago last month, one attendee told NBC News. He also lauded her viral questioning of university presidents during a hearing on antisemitism that led the leaders of Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania to leave their positions.
“Elise became very famous because she took on the heads of MIT and Penn and Harvard,” said Trump, who at one point mispronounced her name, at a recent rally in New Hampshire. “And did it in a surgical way. Wasn’t it beautiful?”
Stefanik, to be sure, has left the door open to joining the GOP ticket with Trump, telling NBC’s “Meet the Press” in an interview earlier this month. “I, of course, would be honored to serve in any capacity in a Trump administration” when asked about the vice presidential role.
“We need to make sure that President Trump is in the strongest position to win in the general election,” she added. “That’s what I’ve been focused on, and that’s what I’m going to remain focused on.”
