Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) defended the comments of former President Donald Trump in which he compared former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). The comments came after Trump said that Haley was responsible for some of the events during the Jan. 6, 2021 protests.
Stefanik said that Haley was “relying on Democrats, just like Nancy Pelosi, to try to have a desperate showing.”
The New York Republican said that Trump’s statement “wasn’t a mix-up,” adding that Trump had not “lost a step. He is a stronger candidate.”
Stefanik made the comments during a weekend interview with NBC News.
Stefanik’s comments came after Trump said that Haley was in charge of Capitol police in 2021. He made the comments during a New Hampshire campaign stop.
“You know, Nikki Haley, Nikki Haley, Nikki Haley, you know they— do you know they destroyed all of the information and all of the evidence?” said the former president. “Everything. Deleted and destroyed all of it. All of it because of, lots of things.”
“Like, Nikki Haley is in charge of security. We offered her 10,000 people, soldiers, National Guards, whatever they want. They turned it down,” Trump said.
They don’t want to talk about that,” added Trump. “These are very dishonest people.”
Haley responded to the former president’s comments, accusing Trump of not being up for the job.
Haley further said that she was not in office in 2021. She also cited a recent comment by Trump that he was running against former President Barack Obama.
Haley increased criticism of the former president, going so far as to imply that Trump was not “mentally fit” for a return to the White House.
Haley: Trump said that I didn’t do anything to secure the Capitol. Let’s be clear, I wasn’t in the Capitol on January 6th. I wasn’t in office on January 6th. He got confused. He got confused and said he running against Obama. He never ran against Obama. pic.twitter.com/YATZvytZs5
— Acyn (@Acyn) January 20, 2024
Stefanik has become a reliable campaign surrogate for the former president, leading to speculation that the rising star could be one of Trump’s choices for vice president. She has not refuted any speculation that she could be Trump’s running mate in November.
