Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York is reportedly on the brief listing of potential contenders to be Trump’s working mate.
Trump himself reportedly referred to Stefanik as ‘a killer’ throughout a latest dinner at Mar-a-Lago.
Stefanik was already a rising star within the GOP, however her daring efficiency in the course of the congressional hearings about anti-Semitism on elite faculty campuses in December made her a nationwide determine in a single day.
NBC News studies:
During a candlelit dinner with Mar-a-Lago members in late December, former President Donald Trump walked across the desk because the dialog turned to one of many greatest selections he’d need to make ought to he change into the Republican nominee: Whom ought to he decide to be his working mate?
That’s when Rep. Elise Stefanik, the exhausting-charging upstate New York Republican, got here up, in line with a individual on the dinner desk. Attendees round Trump raved about her viral second simply weeks earlier than, when she grilled three college presidents at a congressional listening to about antisemitism on campus.
At the considered Stefanik as a potential alternative for vp, Trump nodded approvingly.
“She’s a killer,” Trump mentioned, in line with the individual on the occasion.
Ever since then, Trump and a rising group of allies have began to look extra carefully at Stefanik as a working mate, in line with eight folks aware of the matter, together with folks in Trump’s orbit, Stefanik fundraising bundlers and former Trump administration officers.
At the time, the 39-12 months-outdated congresswoman was on the crest of a wave of nationwide publicity after taking over the highest leaders of Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Their solutions to the query, “Does calling for the genocide of Jews violate [your college’s] rules on bullying and harassment?” finally resulted in two of them resigning and introduced a firestorm of criticism on the faculties…
“Stefanik is at the top,” mentioned Steve Bannon, who was Trump’s chief strategist within the White House and the architect of his 2016 marketing campaign technique.
Stefanik has been a strong surrogate for Trump.
President Donald Trump’s help amongst nationwide Republican major voters is at its HIGHEST LEVEL but.
The major is OVER.
Let’s unite behind Trump and DEFEAT Joe Biden! #SaveAmerica https://t.co/mtfIpejYsI
— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) January 18, 2024
She will surely be a extra engaging candidate for conservatives than Nikki Haley.
