After then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced the launch of an official impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump reached out to New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik.
According to a source familiar with the conversation, Stefanik and Trump had spoken shortly after McCarthy’s announcement at the Capitol about the inquiry.
As chairwoman of the House Republican Conference, Stefanik has demonstrated a rising star status in her party and is supported by Trump.
“I speak to President Trump a lot. I spoke to him today,” Stefanik told reporters, adding that she believes the Biden family’s business dealings are “the biggest political corruption scandal of our lifetime.”
Congresswoman Stefanik, a senior member of the Republican leadership in the House, recently met with former President Trump. This demonstrates his continued influence over conservative Republicans, according to The Hill.
Congresswoman Stefanik has been an ardent advocate for Trump during her tenure in the House and has even been speculated as a potential running mate for 2024.
Additionally, she was one of the earliest supporters of initiating impeachment proceedings against Vice President Biden within the House Republican leadership.
Politico also reported that Trump had dinner with Georgia GOP Represenative Marjorie Taylor Greene and discussed impeachment.
When Donald Trump was in the White House, his Administration brokered historic Middle Eastern peace deals and brought stability to the world.
The Biden Administration has brought nothing but chaos and destruction because of their weakness and incompetence.
— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) October 7, 2023
Congratulations Speaker-designate @Jim_Jordan! pic.twitter.com/xAF8LMhJn3
— Rep. Elise Stefanik (@RepStefanik) October 13, 2023
Trump recently praised Stefanik’s meteoric rise in the party, even teasing that she may be the president in the near future.
“I want to congratulate Elise on her success. Man is she moving fast. That means at this rate she’ll be President in about 6 years,” Trump remarked. “She’s always been a friend and people would say she’s upwardly mobile. She goes to Washington as a young beautiful woman who took over and all of a sudden she becomes a rocket ship, she’s the boss. She’s been a great boss, a strong boss.”
Speculation has been rampant for months regarding who President Trump will pick as his running mate in the 2024 presidential election. Several reports have suggested that potential candidates include South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and Arizona Republican firebrand Kari Lake.
Gov. Noem has seemingly shifted her opinion on the matter since the 2022 midterm elections; however, she had previously stated that she would not be a candidate and instead focus her attention on South Dakota.
Nevertheless, Noem endorsed Trump during a campaign rally in her state last week which escalated rumors of her becoming his running mate for his third bid for the White House.
When asked by Fox News host Sean Hannity if she would consider being Trump’s running mate, Noem replied: “Of course I would consider it.”
“When [Noem’s] name comes up in conversation, it’s been positive,” one source close to Trump told CNN. “She’s been loyal to him. She’s eloquent, she defends him but doesn’t steal the spotlight.”
Noem has harbored political aspirations for a number of years, CNN reported. In 2016, she was considered as a potential candidate for the position of Trump’s Secretary of Agriculture but ultimately chose not to pursue it.
In 2022, Noem ran strategic digital campaign advertisements on Facebook in key early-voting states such as Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina which have considerable influence over presidential candidates.
Having served four terms in the U.S. House representing South Dakota and holding a state legislator post before that, Noem contemplated running for the U.S. Senate in 2022 when it seemed that GOP Sen. John Thune might not seek re-election, according to two knowledgeable Republicans.