Inside Trump's shock decision to pull the plug on Elise Stefanik's nomination
The move came amid growing anxiety about the House GOP’s narrow margins and a Florida special election that’s been more competitive than expected.
At a White House event honoring Women’s History Month on Wednesday afternoon, President Donald Trump took six minutes out of his speech to personally recognize many of the Republican women gathered in the audience.
But one person in attendance whom he did not mention was Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., who was, at the time, Trump’s nominee to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
The omission, which several GOP lawmakers took notice of at the time, was all the more conspicuous given that Stefanik’s name was included on the list of women in Trump’s prepared remarks, according to a White House official.
While it’s unclear whether Trump purposely chose to skip Stefanik’s name, less than 24 hours later, the president delivered another public blow to the congresswoman. He announced that he was withdrawing Stefanik’s nomination for the ambassadorship, citing concerns over Republicans’ razor-thin House majority and the prospect of a special election to fill her seat.
Trump has heaped public praise on Stefanik since the announcement.
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