Republican Elise Stefanik Remains Vague on Certifying 2024 Election Results

Republican New York Representative Elise Stefanik refused to guarantee that the results of the 2024 election would be certified.

NBC News' Meet the Press host Kristen Welker asked Stefanik, a member of the House Republican leadership, in an interview: "Would you vote to certify, and will you vote to certify, the results of the 2024 election no matter what they show?"

Although she supported former President Donald Trump's unfounded accusations of massive election fraud in 2020, Stefanik stated that she would not vote to certify the results in Pennsylvania and other states due to "unconstitutional acts circumventing the state legislature and unilaterally changing election law."

(Photo : Drew Angerer / Getty Images)
Chair of the House Republican Conference Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) speaks during a news conference after a caucus meeting with House Republicans on Capitol Hill May 10, 2023 in Washington, DC. The House Republicans fielded several questions about their colleague Rep. George Santos (R-NY) who was charged by federal prosecutors in a 13-count indictment that includes charges of wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds on Wednesday morning.

Commitment to Certifying Election Results

Stefanik could not commit to certifying the election results and blasted attempts to remove Trump off the ballot in places like Maine and Colorado when Welker pushed her on the subject. She said, "We will see if this is a legal and valid election. What we're seeing so far is that Democrats are so desperate, they're trying to remove President Trump from the ballot."

After Welker pointed out that Stefanik did not explicitly say that she would certify the election results, she asked whether this was merely a conditional statement if Trump won.

"No, it means if they're constitutional," Stefanik responded. "What we saw in 2020 was unconstitutional circumventing of the Constitution, not going through state legislators when it comes to changing election law."

Echoing Trump's Comments, Criticizing Democrats

Meanwhile, the rioters who stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and are still in jail are being referred to as "hostages" by Stefanik, who echoes Trump's previous comments. Trump urged President Joe Biden to free the rioters held in federal prison at a rally in Iowa on Saturday, January 6.

Stefanik said that she was sticking to her whole January 6 address. She expressed strong opposition to the violence and pointed out the importance of fighting for the integrity and safety of the elections.

Last week, in his first campaign address of the year, Biden criticized Trump and claimed that the former president is attacking democracy and endangering American institutions. But according to Stefanik, Biden and the Democrats are a "threat to democracy."

"We see them attempting to remove President Trump from the ballot. We saw this in Colorado and Maine," she said, as reported by NBC News. "That is the suppression of the American people and the American people's ability to cast their ballots this November. So it's Democrats that are a threat to democracy."

In response to Stefanik, Biden's deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks said on Meet the Press: "I'm not sure that this 'I know you are, but what am I' situation is going to work when it comes to democracy."