New York House Republicans John Katko, Elise Stefanik and Tom Reed Dance Around Prospect of Defending “He-who-shall-not-be-named” [Donald Trump]
New York House Republicans Elise Stefanik (NY-21), Tom Reed (NY-23) and John Katko (NY-24) have reached the third stage of their Donald Trump grief: bargaining.
Syracuse.com reports today that both New York House Republicans John Katko (NY-24) and Elise Stefanik (NY-21) “would support the Republican nominee, even if it’s Trump.”
The devil’s in the details, as both Katko and Stefanik are attempting to dance around the prospects of having to defend Donald Trump – along with his dangerous and reckless views that even Republican national experts recently warned would make America less safe – as their party’s standard bearer by treating him as “He-who-shall-not-be-named.”
A spokesperson for Congresswoman Elise Stefanik told Syracuse.com that she “looks forward to supporting the Republican nominee this fall.”
And according to a spokesperson, Congressman John Katko “plans to support his party’s nominee.”
Both statements reflect a departure from previous positions on Trump:
- In January, North Country Public Radio reported on Stefanik’s stage of denial: “Stefanik said she doesn’t think ‘Donald Trump will be the nominee’ at the top of the GOP ticket.”
- Katko had reached the stage of anger during an editorial board meeting with com at the beginning of the year, who reportedly “blamed Trump for a lack of substance in the GOP presidential campaign.”
New York House Republican Tom Reed (NY-23) also appears to be at the stage of bargaining. Last week, it was reported that Reed told another New York Republican that “he [Reed] couldn’t endorse Trump because some of his donors would be upset.”
And for what it’s worth, Long Island House Republican Peter King is still in the stage of denial. Asked about the prospect of backing Cruz, King responded, “I just hope that day never comes. I’ll jump off that bridge when we come to it.” Now that Trump is on the rise, King says he’d back just about anyone other than trump, telling Bloomberg Politics “I would take [Cruz] over Trump.”
“New York House Republicans, including John Katko, Elise Stefanik and Tom Reed, are struggling to dance around the prospect of defending ‘He-who-shall-not-be-named’ [Donald Trump] as their party’s standard bearer,” said Bryan Lesswing at the DCCC. “As Trump continues to put Upstate Republicans between a rock and a hard place, they will be inseparably tied to Trump’s reckless rhetoric that incites violence and dangerous views that even Republican national experts argue would make America less safe.”
Earlier this month, a group of more than 70 Republican national security experts signed a letter warning that Donald Trump’s dangerous views would “make America less safe.”
And even top Republicans are worried about the impact of Trump’s reckless rhetoric. Given the recent pattern of violence at Trump’s rallies, Republican presidential contender Marco Rubio over the weekend raised “doubts that he can support Trump as the GOP nominee.”