(Headline USA) Former president Donald Trump claimed Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., might be president in 2028, according to the New York Post.
Speaking at a fundraiser dinner for Stefanik in Florida on Tuesday, Trump praised the No. 3 House Republican as a huge “success.”
“I want to congratulate Elise on her success. Man is she moving fast. That means at this rate she’ll be president in about 6 years,” he said.
“She’s always been a friend and people would say she’s upwardly mobile,” he continued. “She goes to Washington as a young beautiful woman who took over and all of a sudden she becomes a rocket ship, she’s the boss. She’s been a great boss, a strong boss.”
Stefanikwas voted in as the House Republican Conference chair after House Republicans booted Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., from that role.
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, was also vying for the leadership position, but Stefanik had the backing of Trump and the House’s two top Republicans.
Stefanik has told colleagues she’d serve in the leadership job only through next year, according to a GOP lawmaker and an aide familiar with the discussions.
After that, she wants to take the top GOP spot on the House Education and Labor Committee, which some consider a more powerful position because it can produce legislation on important issues.
During the fundraiser dinner, Trump also hinted at his own presidential run in 2024. Attendees reportedly chanted “four more years” and “2024.”
Trump has not formally announced a 2024 bid, citing campaign-finance restrictions as his primary reason, but he has danced around the subject repeatedly over the past year.
In November, he told reportedly bragged that Republicans from all over were “begging” him to choose them as his running mate.
Several advisers and associates close to Trump told Politico he will choose his running mate based on two factors: unconditional loyalty, and support for his evidence-supported claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen by Democrats.
Stefanik’s name has not yet been floated as a potential vice-president pick, but her close ties to Trump make that a possibility.
