February 23, 2024
By Cami Mondeaux
NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland — House GOP Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) offered a stark warning to attendees at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday, claiming Democrats would use former President Donald Trump’s legal challenges to “steal the next election.”
“The closer President Trump gets to victory, the dirtier the Democrats, their stenographers in the media, and the corrupt prosecutors will get,” Stefanik said in her prepared remarks. “They will stop at nothing, and I mean nothing in their attempt to steal this next election.”
Stefanik has long been one of Trump’s staunchest supporters within the halls of Congress and has played an active role in protecting Trump as he faces legal troubles in states such as New York and Georgia. Stefanik has submitted several judicial complaints in Trump’s civil fraud case in New York, accusing the judge of displaying “biased misconduct” and engaging in “election interference.”
Stefanik specifically referenced Trump’s case in New York in her remarks, hitting out against the state Attorney General Letitia James, who filed a lawsuit against the former president, accusing his family business and his sons of manipulating financial statements and assets to defraud banks and insurers.
Stefanik also pointed to a current Supreme Court challenge in Colorado to remove Trump from the 2024 ballot, accusing the “radical far Left” of “destroying democracy.”
“The Left has gone so far as to desperately try to remove President Trump from the ballot,” Stefanik said. “Why? Because Joe Biden’s approval is in free fall, and they want to take the vote away from you.”
Democrats were quick to respond to Stefanik’s remarks, denouncing the top Republican as a “far-right extremist.”
“Elise Stefanik calls herself ‘ultra-MAGA’ – and we believe her,” said Alex Floyd, rapid response director for the Democratic National Convention. “She still won’t say if she will certify the results of the 2024 election as she continues defending Trump’s inflammatory and divisive rhetoric as part of her desperate play to be his VP nominee. But whether she’s on the ballot or not, voters aren’t letting Stefanik and Trump get anywhere near the White House in November.”
Stefanik’s remarks also come as the GOP chairwoman has been floated as a top contender to be Trump’s running mate in November.
Several of the names Trump has teased as being on his vice presidential short list are also scheduled to speak at the confab, and attendees will get the chance to choose among a larger list of 17 possibilities in a rare vice presidential straw poll.
Those results won’t be released until the last day of the conference on Saturday. But Stefanik has already received backing for the role from within Trumpworld, with Kimberly Guilfoyle promoting her on her podcast earlier this week.
