Fox News host Shannon Bream had a heated confrontation with Representative Elise Stefanik, a New York Republican, over her history of support with former President Donald Trump, on Sunday.
Stefanik, who has been mentioned by some as a possible running mate for Trump amid the 2024 election, was first elected in 2014 and was widely viewed as among the most moderate Republicans in Congress, representing a then-competitive district in New York. But in recent years, many have pointed out her quick pivot right.
Once a Trump critic, Stefanik has transformed into a staunch Trump defender. After he lost the 2020 election, she embraced his claims of widespread election fraud, voting against certifying the Electoral College vote in Pennsylvania, a swing state won by President Joe Biden.
Since then, she has only further supported these claims, eventually replacing Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who emerged as a leading Trump critic, as the chair of the Republican Conference.
In an interview on Fox News Sunday, Bream pointed towards a New York Times article regarding Stefanik’s history with Trump from the time she did not support the former president to her now being one of his allies.
The Times‘ story, which was originally published in 2022, but was updated in January 2023, discusses Stefanik’s transformation as a Trump supporter as the story points to what the congresswoman’s former friends had to say about the issue
“Like many establishment Republicans, according to her former friends, she thought Mr. Trump was too awful and ridiculous to be taken seriously. Her revisionism still shocks those who have known her the longest and who remember the disdain she expressed for Mr. Trump back then,” the article reads.
Bream then asked Stefanik on Sunday, “When or more importantly why did you change your mind about President Trump?”
“Well Shannon it’s a disgrace that you would quote The New York Times with nameless, faceless, false sources. Shannon, they are not quoting my friends, those names are not included because they are false smears. I was attacked,” Stefanik said.
However, Bream interjected by saying that the sources were the congresswoman’s former friends, adding “To be fair there are a number of names of people who are quoted in the article.”
Stefanik rebuked the article and reiterated her support for the former president.
Bream then asked the GOP congresswoman about whether she made the August 2015 comment, referenced in the Times‘ story, when she told a New York radio station that Trump was “insulting to women” and that his candidacy would hurt the Republican Party’s efforts to attract female voters.
Stefanik responded: “I said the statement that the Democrats leaked out in 2016 that, that was insulting. However, Shannon I stood by and supported him and I strongly support him and he has done so much to promote women in senior positions.”
Newsweek has reached out to Stefanik’s office via email for comment.
The exchange between Stefanik and Bream comes after the congresswoman has been considered by some as the favorite to be named Trump’s running mate. In February, Stefanik reiterated her loyalty to the former president by telling CNN she would “not have done” what former Vice President Mike Pence did on January 6, 2021, and allowed the certification of the 2020 election results as required by the U.S. Constitution.
Stefanik also told CNN she would be “proud” to serve in Trump’s next administration when asked about her being considered to be his vice presidential pick.
