Elise Stefanik Went Full MAGA — So Where Is Her Trump Endorsement?
New York Rep. Elise Stefanik morphed from a moderate, right-of-center Republican to a MAGA champion in just a few years, but she still hasn’t secured the coveted Trump endorsement in her run for governor of New York as she faces a new primary challenger.
Stefanik, whose team argues she has the best shot at defeating incumbent Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, is facing Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman. Even though Stefanik currently leads Blakeman by 31 points, President Donald Trump has asserted both are “great people” and declined to get involved in the race at this point.
The lack of endorsement raises questions about potential lingering tensions from Trump pulling Stefanik’s nomination as ambassador to the United Nations and a recent row with Speaker Mike Johnson, as well as the political expediency of Stefanik’s delayed embrace of the president.
During the 2016 Republican primary, Stefanik publicly criticized several of Trump’s positions but largely avoided mentioning him by name, according to a Roll Call report. Her criticisms included Trump’s attacks on the family of a Muslim U.S. soldier killed in Iraq, his proposal to ban immigration from Muslim-majority countries, his pledge to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, and the release of the Access Hollywood tape.
In May 2016, Stefanik avoided mentioning Trump by name prior to his nomination, instead reaffirming her commitment to supporting the Republican nominee, stating “Like my Democratic opponent, I will support my party’s nominee in the fall,” she said, according to an Albany Times Union report.
This is Kathy Hochul and Mamdani’s New York where antisemitic crimes are on the rise and attacks against Jewish New Yorkers are skyrocketing.
Let me be clear, this heinous act of antisemitic violence and harassment has no place in New York, in America, or anywhere in the world… https://t.co/XtLrA2sQ9o
— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) December 17, 2025
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Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr


