'Shameless' Elise Stefanik has become one of Trump’s most combative 'shock troops': report

When Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-New York) was first sworn into the U.S. House of Representatives in January 2015, she had a reputation for being a "pro-business conservative" along the lines of now-Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and former New York Gov. George Pataki. And she was critical of Donald Trump and his MAGA movement during his 2016 campaign.

But Stefanik, now 39, has since flip-flopped, taken a far-right MAGA turn and become a strident Trump defender. In a scathing commentary for CNN in July 2021, Never Trump conservative S.E. Cupp slammed Stefanik as a "shameless" and "disgraceful" opportunist who had totally abandoned her principles and become an apologist for the extremist who attacked the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6, 2021.

These days, Stefanik is describing convicted January 6 rioters as "hostages" — which, according to The Guardian's Peter Stone, is an example of the extremes she will now go to in support of the MAGA movement.

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"As Donald Trump aggressively fights multiple legal and political threats," Stone explains in an article published on January 30, "New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik has become his most powerful ally in Congress in key ways by echoing Trump's dangerous falsehoods and pushing outlandish conspiracy theories around the January 6 attack on the Capitol. To bolster Trump, Stefanik has mimicked Trump's calling convicted January 6 prisoners 'hostages,' declined in a TV interview to say she would certify the 2024 election in advance, and filed ethics complaints against two judges overseeing cases against Trump or his allies."

Stone continues, "Stefanik's emergence as a major Trump cheerleader has sparked sharp criticism from historians, ex-Republican members and Democrats for fueling election denialism and disinformation which weaken democracy. But it has earned Stefanik a notable distinction: Her name is frequently mentioned as Trump's potential 2024 running mate."

Interviewees for Stone's article laid some reasons why they find Stefanik increasingly disturbing.

Steven Levitsky, a Harvard University professor and co-author of the 2019 book "How Democracies Die," told The Guardian, "She scares me in several ways. Stefanik appears to be willing to go down Trump's authoritarian path wholeheartedly…. She's smart, politically savvy and skilled, unlike Trump."

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Levitsky added, "The most dangerous autocrats like (Viktor) Orbán and (Recep Tayyip) Erdoğan are politically skilled. Stefanik has shown signs she has some of those skills."

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Maryland) is also quite scathing in his criticism of Stefanik.

Raskin told The Guardian, "Elise Stefanik is giving opportunism and sycophancy a bad name. She now mimics every move and word of Donald Trump…. Stefanik is clearly auditioning for the running mate slot by suggesting, à la Trump, that she'll reserve judgment on certifying the election."

The Maryland Democrat also said of Stefanik, "A hallmark of fascist political parties is that they don't accept the results of elections if they don't go their way. Stefanik is now embracing this tactic to prove to Donald Trump she's the most obsequious sycophant in the Republican Party and can bow and scrape even better than (Rep.) Marjorie Taylor Greene."

Donald Ayer, who served deputy attorney general under President George H.W. Bush, told The Guardian, "Stefanik seems to have been someone who knew better beforehand, but she now has become one of the shock troops systematically distorting reality in support of Trump."

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Read The Guardian's full article at this link.