‘It Was a Master Class in Pushing Back’: Stefanik Praises Her Own Appearance on Meet the Press In Contentious Interview

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Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) sparred with Russell Berman, a staff writer at The Atlantic, about her recent spats with the media and what Berman called her “elaborate audition” to be Donald Trump’s running mate.

“Stefanik didn’t make much effort to dispel the perception that she wants to be Trump’s running mate,” Berman wrote of their interview, adding Stefanik repeated her usual line, saying, “I’d be honored to serve in any capacity in the Trump administration.”

Berman detailed Stefanik’s combative tone during their interview, writing:

To interview Stefanik is to strike a sort of deal: access in exchange for browbeating. She answered my questions even as she rebuked me for asking about such trifling matters as election denialism and January 6.

“Everyday Americans are sick and tired of the biased media, including you, Russell, and the types of questions you’re asking,” he quoted Stefanik’s attack on him, sounding very much like Arizona’s Kari Lake.

“I started to ask her about her recent appearance on Meet the Press, where she had casually referred to the January 6 defendants as ‘hostages’—an unsubtle echo of Trump’s language,” Berman wrote, referencing Stefanik’s highly controversial interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker in early January.

Berman notes that Stefanik was all too eager to talk about it, even though she received a bevy of criticism for the remark – including from families of hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza.

“Even though Stefanik made a show of protesting my line of inquiry, she beat me to the question,” Berman wrote, adding:

I had barely uttered “Meet the Press … ” before she started speaking over me: “I know—you’re so predictable—what you’re going to ask. You’re going to ask about the January 6 hostages.” Bingo. Without missing a beat, Stefanik proceeded to read aloud snippets from New York Times and NPR reports about poor conditions and alleged mistreatment of inmates charged with January 6 crimes. “The American people are smart. They see through this,” she said. “They know that there is a double standard of justice in this country.”

Berman notes that Stefanik is working overtime to justify her use of the term “hostages” at a moment when the word is so closely associated with the atrocities of Hamas.

“The specifics of the reports weren’t really the point. More than anything, she seemed to want to demonstrate that, like Trump, she wouldn’t back down or apologize,” he added, noting that far-right Trump advisor turned podcaster Steve Bannon praised Stefanik’s appearance on the Meet the Press as a “masterclass.”

Berman also noted praise she received inside her upstate New York district for also telling Welker she wouldn’t commit to certifying the 2024 election if Trump lost. He went on to conclude that Stefanik’s new tactic with the media is not only to make outlandish claims to get Trump’s attention and praise, but to relentlessly defend those claims:

Stefanik has no interest in appearing humble or self-deprecating. When I brought up the Meet the Press interview, she used the same word that Bannon had to describe her performance. “It was a master class in pushing back” against the media, she told me, “and it has been widely hailed.”

Read the full interview here.