Elise Stefanik: Vice President Pence shouldn't have certified election votes on Jan. 6

Rep. Elise Stefanik, a Republican from upstate New York who is being floated as a possible vice presidential pick for Donald Trump, said Thursday she would not have certified votes on Jan. 6 if she was in Vice President Mike Pence's position.

“I don’t think that was the right approach,” said Stefanik to CNN’s Kaitlan Collin. “I think it is very important that we continue to stand up for the constitution and have legal and secure elections, which we did not have in 2020.”

The 39-year-old congresswoman has risen to prominence among the right flanks of the Republican party, in part due to her vocal support for Trump, denying 2020 election results and grilling leaders of top universities over antisemitism on college campuses. Stefanik and fellow inflammatory Trump-loyalist Rep. Matt Gaetz introduced a resolution Tuesday declaring Trump “did not engage in insurrection or rebellion against the United States.”

“I’d be honored to serve in a future Trump administration in any way, but I’m focused on making sure that we are supporting him, to making sure he’s in the strongest position to win this November,” she told reporters at a rally in New Hampshire last month.

Her recent interview underlines the persistence of false Republican claims that the 2020 election was rigged, which remains a popularly held belief among many Republican voters. A January USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll found that 52% of Trump supporters said they had no confidence the 2024 elections will be accurately counted and reported. In contrast, 81% of supporters of Biden were “very confident” about this year’s election returns.

More: Ahead of Jan. 6, poll flashes warning signs about 2024 election aftermath

Considered a moderate when she was first elected in 2015, Stefanik solidified her position as a Trump acolyte in recent years, joining the former president's 2021 impeachment defense team and serving as a New York Co-Chair of Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign.

A Harvard graduate and native of upstate New York, Stefanik launched her political career when she joined former President George W. Bush’s White House, working in policy.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Rep. Elise Stefanik wouldn't have certified election votes on Jan. 6