She faces plenty of future GOP leadership competitors, including Rep. Jim Banks. And her camp got burned after allegedly raising Banks aide Buckley Carlson.
Allies of Donald Trump Jr. issued a stark warning to Elise Stefanik recently: Keep friends’ kids out of your political rivalries.
Those Trump Jr. allies were recently told that Stefanik’s camp was behind an effort to plant negative stories about Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), a potential Stefanik competitor in House GOP leadership. It was also relayed to them that part of the effort involved bringing up Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s son, Buckley — an aide to Banks — according to three Republicans familiar with the conversations.
Intermediaries for Trump Jr.’s camp conveyed to Stefanik backers that they believed she had crossed a line by bringing up Carlson’s child, according to two of those Republicans.
POLITICO was unable to confirm the veracity of the pro-Stefanik whisper campaign against Banks. But whether real or rumor, the pushback from allies of the former president’s eldest son could imperil the New York Republican’s hopes of elevating to a bigger party post. One year after deposing anti-Trump Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) from the No. 3 House Republican post, Stefanik is now considered a contender for the whip’s role in a potential GOP majority next year.
A Stefanik spokesperson denied that Trump Jr. allies had relayed any such message, calling it “another desperate attempt to falsely and anonymously smear Congresswoman Stefanik and her team.”
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Allies of Donald Trump Jr. issued a stark warning to Elise Stefanik recently: Keep friends’ kids out of your political rivalrieshttps://t.co/WWKX0s0fdM
— POLITICO (@politico) May 28, 2022
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