Fox Anchors Grill Elise Stefanik Over Whether Trump Could Tank Her Campaign
Fox News’ Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino grilled Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) about how President Donald Trump’s unpopularity in the Empire State might affect her gubernatorial campaign on Monday.
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Fox News’ Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino grilled Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) about how President Donald Trump’s unpopularity in the Empire State might affect her gubernatorial campaign on Monday.
Stefanik, a staunch ally of Trump, officially began her campaign to unseat Governor Kathy Hochul (D) last week. On Monday, Perino asked her about how her association with the president might play into the race.
“Politico wrote this, that ‘Stefanik’s run for New York governor could be a gift to Democrats,’ saying that, ‘Trump’s support is easy fodder for Democrats in a state where GOP have a vast enrollment disadvantage and a GOP candidate hasn’t won statewide since 2002,’” she observed before asking: “What do you think would make your race different?”
“Well, first of all, I have a record in my district. As you remember, Dana, when I ran over 10 years ago, no one thought I could win, no one though I could flip the district. I won Republicans, independents, and a coalition of Democrats. If you look at [Zohran] Mamdani’s election, he barely broke 50%. Traditionally, the Democrat nominee in New York City mayor’s races gets in the high 60s or 70s. So that means that nearly a majority of New Yorkers want a different approach,” replied Stefanik. “They want a check on Mamdani, and Hochul has not provided that. I would also point out, this is going to be based upon voter turnout. President Trump won nearly 3.6 million votes in New York State. Kathy Hochul only won 3.1 million. And while she beat Lee Zeldin by a very small 6 percentage points, we excel at turning out those voters. And we’re going to energize them to turn them out this election cycle.”
Hemmer then jumped in to note that Kamala Harris was the “easy winner” over Trump in New York last year.
“Do you run with Donald Trump as a partner, or do you run without him?” he inquired.
Stefanik responded:
So I run as Elise Stefanik versus Kathy Hochul. Kathy Hochul is going to try to make this about Donald Trump. This is about Kathy Hochul’s failed record. She is an accidental governor. She is only in this position because she was Andrew Cuomo’s lieutenant governor who then had to step up when Cuomo was pushed out. She faces a primary herself, her own hand-picked lieutenant governor is primarying her. I am running on my record of results. Of course I will work with President Trump. New Yorkers know that. But the polling already shows, Bill, despite the fact that New Yorker’s know that I’m a strong ally of President Trump, I’m polling within single digits and in some polls ahead of Kathy Hochul.
So we can win this race. And that’s because traditional Democrats and independents know that under Mamdani and Hochul, the Democrat party has been embraced by socialists. They have been taken over. So we’re winning traditional Democrats. And I will tell you, Kathy Hochul’s top bundlers, top supporters are supporting me, and that will come out at the end of this year’s fundraising filings.
Watch above via Fox News.
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