Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., the clear frontrunner to replace Rep. Liz Cheney as House Republican Conference chairperson, Wednesday officially asked her GOP colleagues for their support for the seat and called for a “unified conservative vision” moving forward.
“Despite the media’s endless attempts to divide us, our members are united in our laser focus on defeating the radical Socialist Democrat agenda of President (Joe) Biden and Speaker (Nancy) Pelosi,” Stefanik wrote in her letter, which she posted on Twitter. “Our members believe that the stakes are far too high for us to be divided.”
She added that Republicans stand “shoulder-to-shoulder in believing that we have a historic opportunity to work as a team to win back the Majority in 2022 on behalf of the American people and save our great country.”
Cheney was ousted from her seat as the No. 3 Republican in the House through a voice vote during a closed-door meeting in the basement of the U.S. Capitol early Wednesday morning. The vote came after she repeatedly criticized former President Donald Trump over his claims about the 2020 presidential election and insisted that his claims that he lost to Biden because of voter fraud may have played into the Jan. 6 violence at the Capitol.
Trump has endorsed Stefanik to become the new conference chair, as have House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Minority Whip Steve Scalise, the two top House GOP leaders.
In her letter, Stefanik wrote that Biden and Pelosi are bringing “trillions of dollars in new taxes on hard-working Americans, trillions in reckless federal spending, unconstitutional gun control bills, amnesty measures that accelerate the crisis at the border, job-killing regulations, a federal takeover of our elections, dangerous national security policies, and invasive government overreach trampling our Constitutional freedoms and liberties.”
“Our communications posture must be to go on aggressive offense every single day to break through the biased media,” she said. “Our Conference must engage across all media platforms including conservative outlets and alternative tech platforms. Our Members should be provided key messaging points to fight back against the Far-Left media narrative on the issues most important to our constituents.”
Stefanik said her goals, as conference chair, are as follows:
- 1. A disciplined, unified message from our leadership team and Republican Conference focused on key issues important to voters. The media and Socialist Democrats will attempt to divide us. We will not take the bait; our message must be disciplined to offensively prosecute the disastrous and destructive Biden and Pelosi agenda.
- 2. A communications posture on offense every single day. It is imperative that we not only go on offense against the Socialist Democrats, but we need to be on offense when dealing with the biased mainstream media. Americans are yearning for a conservative vision; we must communicate that message clearly, consistently, and continuously.
- 3. Empower all our Members to shine. Our Members have incredible personal stories and diverse backgrounds that embody the American Dream and our conservative principles. It is important to highlight our Members individually instead of focusing exclusively on our leadership team. We need to focus on spotlighting our individual Members and their conservative policy solutions and introducing them to the American people. It is the Conference’s job to support our Members’ ability to engage and win the daily media cycle in their district and nationally.