MAGA Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) learned a tough lesson this week about President Donald Trump's political fickleness after completely altering her career path to become his ambassador to the United Nations.
According to a new opinion piece for MSNBC, "Joining the MAGA White House was supposed to be the culmination of a political makeover years in the making." To take the new role, Stefanik left her post as Republican Conference chair, said her goodbyes to her staff, and posted "a retrospective of her congressional career on Instagram."
Yet, while she was preparing, Trump was formulating other plans.
"On Thursday, Trump repaid Stefanik’s loyalty as only he could: by kicking her nomination to the curb — notably, not because of anything she did, but because of his own mistakes," wrote Opinion Editor James Downie.
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Trump made the announcement on Truth Social, Trump posting, "I have asked Elise, as one of my biggest Allies, to remain in Congress to help me deliver Historic Tax Cuts, GREAT Jobs, Record Economic Growth, a Secure Border, Energy Dominance, Peace Through Strength, and much more, so we can MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN. With a very tight Majority, I don’t want to take a chance on anyone else running for Elise’s seat."
Downie claimed, "The president may have bankrupted multiple casinos, but for once he is right about the odds."
Since House Republicans hold just a 218-213 majority with several seats vacant, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is dealing with an uncomfortably slim margin for error if he wants to enact Trump's agenda.
"This fiasco, as is so often the case with Trump, is entirely self-inflicted," Downie wrote. "Just as in his first term, a disastrous start to his term has boosted Democratic voters’ enthusiasm for even low-turnout special elections. And whereas the Democratic-leaning vacancies came about because the representatives died while in office, Trump himself created the Florida vacancies by choosing those two representatives for his Cabinet. The first was Mike Waltz, now best known for his struggles with Signal. The second was Matt Gaetz, whose nomination as attorney general lasted just eight days."
For her part, Stefanik is maintaining a stiff MAGA upper lip. She told Fox News, “I have been proud to be a team player. This is about stepping up as a team.”