House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik can not stand by her candidates if they make even the least disparaging comments about Trump.
Stefanik and her crew are having a hard time finding a candidate MAGA enough for them and are putting a heavily gerrymandered district in Ohio at risk. Initially, they had high hopes for JR Majewski, who was caught lying about his military service. Then they lined up behind Craig Riedel, who said that he thinks Donald Trump is "arrogant." Such a slight was reason enough for Stefanik to withdraw her endorsement of Riedel and head back to the drawing board.
"I was very disappointed in his inappropriate comments regarding President Trump," Stefanik wrote of Craig Riedel on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Thursday.
"As we begin 2024, my focus is on ensuring we nominate the strongest candidates on the ballot who are committed to electing President Trump this November and expanding our House GOP Majority," the New York Republican added.
Riedel, a former state representative, was the party's preferred pick to take on longtime Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur until audio was leaked in December that showed Riedel calling Trump "arrogant" and vowing not to endorse him. Stefanik's pulled endorsement, which she initially announced back in July, further signals that his path to the nomination will get tougher.
"I think he is arrogant. I don't like the way he calls people names. I just don't think that's very becoming of a president," Riedel said of Trump in the recording, the date of which is unclear. Riedel quickly endorsed Trump after the audio leaked.
Politico
The scary thing here is the garbage about "candidates committed to electing Donald Trump. So Elise and her Republican Conference in Congress are working to re-elect an insurrectionist who has vowed to turn the USA into a fascist dictatorship on day one?
