Stefanik stresses embrace of Trump amid Cheney fallout: ‘We are one team’
Rep. Elise Stefanik, who appears on track to replace Rep. Liz Cheney as House GOP conference chair, stressed an embrace of former President Donald Trump and a message of unity for the Republican Party even as she faces attacks from one conservative group that she is insufficiently conservative.
“My vision is to run with support from the President and his coalition of voters,” Stefanik said, a reference to Trump, when asked in an interview with Steve Bannon on his radio show Thursday what her vision is for GOP victory in the 2022 midterm elections.
“We are going to run as an alternative to the Biden agenda,” she said, adding, “this is also about being one team. I’m committed to being a voice and sending a clear message that we are one team, and that means working with the President and working with all of our excellent Republican members of Congress.”
Club for Growth, a conservative organization focusing on economic issues, came out Wednesday against Stefanik’s bid to replace Cheney as House GOP conference chair, saying the New York moderate-turned-MAGA congresswoman is “NOT a good spokesperson” for the conference.
“Elise Stefanik is NOT a good spokesperson for the House Republican Conference,” the group posted on Twitter. “She is a liberal with a 35% CFGF lifetime rating, 4th worst in the House GOP. House Republicans should find a conservative to lead messaging and win back the House Majority.”
The club’s ratings system measures how members of Congress vote on economic issues, and scored Stefanik much lower than the more conservative Cheney, who has a lifetime score of 65%. Stefanik voted against the 2017 Republican tax cut bill, putting her at odds with nearly all of her party and Trump, but has since tacked in his direction.
Republicans are rapidly coalescing around Stefanik as a replacement to Cheney in House leadership as Cheney continues to call out Trump’s Big Lie that the 2020 election was stolen.
Trump endorsed Stefanik’s bid for conference chair after it was clear that Cheney had lost the support of her fellow Republicans. Stefanik also has the support of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and Minority Whip Steve Scalise released a statement saying that “House Republicans need to be solely focused on taking back the House in 2022 and fighting against Speaker Pelosi and President Biden’s radical socialist agenda, and Elise Stefanik is strongly committed to doing that.”
The House GOP is expected to vote as soon as next week to remove Cheney from her post and install Stefanik.
This story is breaking and will be updated.
