The highest-ranking Republican woman in the House of Representatives got into a heated argument on Fox News on Sunday after moderator Shannon Bream raised questions about Congresswoman Elise Stefanik’s loyalty to former President Donald Trump.
Stefanik’s name has been floated as a potential vice presidential pick for Trump as he runs for a second term in the White House. The New York congressman is currently chairman of the Republican Conference.
In the brutal interview, Bream quoted a New York Times article in which former friends told the paper that Stefanik thought he was “too terrible and ridiculous to be taken seriously.” It reported that Stefanik once called Trump a “whack job” and said her “revisionism still shocks those who have known her longest.”
“It’s a shame that you quote the New York Times with nameless, anonymous fake sources,” Stefanik fired back at Bream in response to the question after Bream asked when and why she changed her mind about Trump.
Representative Elise Stefanik appears Sunday for an interview on Fox News in which moderator Shannon Bream quoted a blistering New York Times article about Stefanik’s varying support for Donald Trump
Stefanik has been one of the ex-president’s closest allies in recent years.
Bream pointed out that the article quoted some of the congresswoman’s friends and said she was simply giving Stefanik a chance to respond.
“No no no… Shannon, Shannon, they’re not quoting my friends. Those names are not included because it is false slander,” a visibly irritated Stefanik shot back, interrupting the moderator.
The two continued to talk about each other, with Bream pointing out that there are people with names quoted in the article. She added that “people can read it for themselves.”
“This is a false slander and let me tell you a fact, Shannon,” Stefanik insisted. “In 2016, I was attacked as the only elected Republican from the Northeast who voted for President Trump. The Democrats spent hundreds of thousands of dollars attacking me for that fact.”
“So to say I didn’t support him is just false,” the congressman added.
Stefanik with Trump in January 2024. The New York congresswoman has been suggested as a potential vice presidential choice as Trump runs for president
“I am proud to be one of his strongest supporters since he ran for office in 2016, which was my first re-election to the House of Representatives,” Stefanik asserted.
She claimed that Trump will be elected this fall, and that she is one of his strongest allies in Congress.
But Bream wasn’t done with her tough series of questions, pointing out that in the New York Times article, Stefanik himself was quoted on a radio station calling Trump “offensive” toward women.
‘Is that a misquote? Didn’t you say that?’ Bream pressed.
“I said the statements the Democrats leaked in 2016 were insulting, Shannon,” Stefanik responded through clenched teeth. “However, I stood by him and supported him, and I support him wholeheartedly.”
Moderator Shannon Bream presses Rep. Elise Stefanik on her past stance on Donald Trump during a heated interview on Fox News Sunday
Bream concluded the interview by saying that people can read it Article from 2023 with the names on the record and quotes and added “obviously you support him now” as Stefanik grinned at the camera.
“Because I supported him then,” Stefanik interrupted with a final word. She ended by saying she voted for him in 2016 and was “attacked for it.”
The fiery exchange took place while Stefanik was traveling to Israel, where she spoke before the Israeli parliament this weekend, praising Trump and criticizing President Biden.
The speech was seen as one that could help ingratiate herself with the ex-president, as her name has been mentioned as a potential running mate.
Traditionally, American politicians leave American politics at home when they travel abroad, but that was not the case with Stefanik’s speech.
She said during her speech that there is “no excuse for an American president to block aid to Israel.”
Elise Stefanik was interviewed about her visit to Israel, where she spoke before the Israeli parliament. During her speech, the congresswoman criticized President Joe Biden
Earlier this month, Biden suspended the sale of 3,5,000 bombs to Israel, but his administration still plans to sell more than $1 billion in weapons to Israel.
Bream asked Stefanik about the long tradition of leaving politics at the water’s edge and not criticizing a sitting president abroad.
“Is that out the door now?” Bram asked.
Stefanik countered that she had been asked to speak about her work fighting anti-Semitism and supporting Israel. She said the world needs to know that the Republican majority in the House of Representatives “stands strongly behind Israel.”
She blasted the president, saying Biden’s “weak, failed leadership” does not reflect where the American people stand.