US Nominee for Ambassador to the United Nations Elise Stefanik addressing the Israeli parliament on May 24, 2024. Photo: Office of Congresswoman Elise Stefanik.
US President-elect Donald Trump has selected Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) to serve as his ambassador to the United Nations, a decision which, if confirmed by the US Senate, would ensure that a staunch pro-Israel advocate represents the incoming administration in the international body.
“I am honored to nominate Chairwoman Elise Stefanik to serve in my Cabinet as US ambassador to the United Nations,” Trump, who last Tuesday became the first former president elected to a nonconsecutive term in over a century, said in a statement first reported by the New York Post. “Elise is an incredibly, strong, tough and smart America First fighter.”
Stefanik, chair of the House Republican Conference, confirmed the news and issued her own statement on the nomination.
“I am truly honored to earn President Trump’s nomination to serve in his Cabinet as US Ambassador to the United Nations,” he lawmaker said. “During my conversation with President Trump, I shared how deeply humbled I am to accept his nomination and that I look forward to earning the support of my colleagues in the United States Senate.”
Stefanik continued, “President Trump’s historic landslide election has given hope to the American people and is a reminder that brighter days are ahead — both at home and abroad … America continues to be the beacon of the world, but we expect and must demand that our friends and allies be strong partners in the peace we seek.”
As The Algemeiner has previously reported, Stefanik is one of the leading pro-Israel voices in Washington, DC, having defended both the US-Israel alliance and the civil rights of Jewish students on college campuses, where aggressive pro-Hamas activists have launched campaigns of violence, obstruction, and intimidation aimed at forcing Jewish life underground and severing higher education institutions’ ties to Israel.
Stefanik, 40, a Harvard University alumnus from Albany, New York, currently serves on the US House committees for intelligence, armed services, and education and the workforce. In May, she delivered what her office described as a “historic” speech to the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, an address she used to express support for the Jewish state’s war with Hamas, as well as to explicate her views on the Islamic Republic of Iran’s destabilizing activities in the Middle East.
“I have been clear at home and I will be clear here: There is no excuse for an American president to block aid to Israel — aid that was duly passed by the Congress,” she said. “There is no excuse to ease sanctions on Iran, paying a $6 billion ransom to the world’s leading state sponsor of terror, or to dither and hide while our friends fight for their lives. No excuse. Full stop.”
She continued, “I’m proud to have sponsored, or backed, every measure to aid Israel that has come before the United States Congress. Every single on. It’s why, I, as a senior member on the House Armed Services Committee and Intelligence Committee, we have helped secure billions of dollars for the Iron Dome, David’s Sling, the Iron Beam, anti-tunneling technology, counter-UAS system, and further development of emerging technologies.”
At home, Stefanik has sharply interrogated university presidents over what many observers have perceived as indifference to antisemitic hatred on college campuses and a refusal to quell riotous demonstrations which disrupted academic activities for weeks on end during the 2023-2024 academic year. Several weeks before addressing the Knesset, Stefanik grilled Northwestern University president Michael Schill over the now-infamous Deering Meadow Agreement, which granted concessions to a pro-Hamas group that commandeered a section of campus and refused to surrender it unless the administration commenced a boycott of Israel. The agreement was a “unilateral capitulation,” Stefanik said, claiming that Schill’s actions created an impression that he opposed protecting Jewish students from violence.
“Let’s talk about what has occurred on this encampment,” Stefanik asserted. “Isn’t it true that a Jewish Northwestern student was assaulted?”
Stefanik went on to recount several more incidents of alleged antisemitic violence — including one in which a Jewish student was spit on — and harassment at Northwestern, pressing Schill to estimate when the school will complete its investigations of the criminal behavior.
In July, Stefanik sponsored legislation which would punish universities that fail to protect Jewish students from antisemitism. The University Accountability Act (UAA) proposed levying a tax on universities which, in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, declined to punish perpetrators of antisemitic behavior. The Protecting American Students Act (PASA), prompted by reports that foreign students overwhelmingly contribute to antisemitism on college campuses, called for taxing the endowments of universities that admit more foreign students than American ones.
A rising star in the Republican Party, Stefanik’s career as a public servant has had its hiccups and false starts. In 2022, she refused to withdraw her endorsement of a congressional primary candidate, Carl Paladino, who once lauded Adolf Hitler as “the kind of leader we need today … somebody inspirational.” While Paladino apologized for his comments about the Nazi leader after they were reported — saying, “I understand that invoking Hitler in any context is a serious mistake and rightfully upsets people. I strongly condemn the murderous atrocities committed against the Jewish people by Hitler and the Nazis” — he accused the organization which reported his remarks, Media Matters, of reaching a “new low.”
Stefanik had previously pledged support for Paladino in a tweet which described him as a “friend,” “job creator,” and “conservative outsider who will be a tireless fighter for the people of New York.” Following reports of his comments, her office declined to state unequivocally whether she would continue to support his candidacy, saying only that “Congresswoman Stefanik has one of the strongest records in the US Congress condemning antisemitism and led and passed bipartisan legislation to expand Holocaust education.”
Ultimately, Stefanik threw her star power behind Paladino, campaigning for him and sponsoring a tele-rally which promoted his candidacy.
Stefanik is also one of several Republicans who did not oppose then-President Trump’s effort to halt the transfer of power following his 2020 general election loss to Democratic Party nominee Joe Biden, who defeated Trump in the Electoral College and won the popular vote. Echoing claims of widespread voter fraud in key battleground states, she voted against Congress certifying the results of the race in Pennsylvania, which Biden won by a slim 1.17 percent margin.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
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