Our latest book is titled Divided We Stand: The 2020 Elections and American Politics. Among other things, it discusses state and congressional elections. It also discusses the state of the parties. The state of the GOP is not good. Case in point: the infamous Elise Stefanik.
This past weekend, Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik (NY-21) addressed the nation’s baby formula shortage. On her personal Twitter, Stefanik posted, “The White House, House Dems, & usual pedo grifters are so out of touch with the American people that rather than present ANY PLAN or urgency to address the nationwide baby formula crisis, they double down on sending pallets of formula to the southern border.” Not only is this tweet disgraceful (notice the nod to QAnon), it’s also dishonest.
But that’s Stefanik’s long-standing M.O. She routinely uses dog whistles and bold-faced lies to manufacture outrage. It’s the most irresponsible thing an elected official can do, but Stefanik never misses a beat. Or, to quote a longtime constituent I know from New York’s 21st, “Elise has not been productive for our district or state. Has been productive on a national level for herself.”
Earlier this year, Stefanik publicly attacked a school in Mayfield, N.Y., accusing it of putting an educator on leave because that educator expressed anti-mask sentiments on social media. The administration denied this, saying in part, “... the district would not put someone on leave for posting their personal opinion about the mask mandate on social media.” Then Stefanik inserted herself into the story, claiming the teacher was disciplined for posting one of Stefanik’s Facebook posts about the issue. The school called Stefanik’s statement(s) “misleading and inaccurate,” and Stefanik called for the “Resignation of any and all administrators who made this wrongful determination.” Again, there is zero evidence this happened as Stefanik describes.
When the Ukrainian war broke out, Stefanik trashed President Joe Biden. “Joe Biden’s weakness on the world stage has emboldened our foreign adversaries…” She saw the bloodshed as a chance to score cheap political points. A few weeks later, Stefanik penned an op-ed for the New York Post, promising to investigate Hunter Biden to the ends of the Earth when the GOP reclaims the House. In this same op-ed, she referred to the nation’s First Family as the “Biden Crime Family,” not once, twice, but three times. Gutter-ball politics.
.@EliseStefanik was one of several bright, passionate students who helped research my first book in 2005 at @HarvardIOP. I was so impressed. Heartbreaking to see her turn against democracy and decency. cc @matthewjdowd https://t.co/z5UmBVq5bj
— Ron Fournier (@ron_fournier) May 21, 2022
