What Stefanik's House tenure reveals about what type of UN ambassador she may be
President-elect Donald Trump nominated New York Rep. Elise Stefanik for U.N. ambassador, where the firebrand conservative is expected to employ her "tough" demeanor in the international body.
New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, who hammered elite university leaders for their handling of anti-Israel agitators who stormed college campuses in the last year, will be nominated to serve as President-elect Donald Trump's ambassador to the U.N.
"I am honored to nominate Chairwoman Elise Stefanik to serve in my Cabinet as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Elise is an incredibly strong, tough, and smart America First fighter," Trump said in comment provided to Fox News Digital. A person with direct knowledge of the matter additionally confirmed to Fox News Digital that Trump has chosen the New York Republican for the role.
Stefanik is a longtime Trump ally who has chaired the House Republican Conference since 2021, serving as the fourth-most powerful Republican in the House. She was first elected to the House in blue New York in 2014 at the age of 30, making her the youngest woman elected to the House at the time.
In the last year alone, Stefanik has been a conservative firebrand who grilled "morally bankrupt" college leaders over their handling of antisemitism on campus following Hamas attacking Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
"Northwestern, Rutgers and UCLA negotiated with pro-Hamas terrorist encampments, bent the knee to the radical antisemitic mob and surrendered their campuses to illegal antisemitic encampments while repeatedly ignoring the harassment and violence against Jewish students and faculty," Stefanik told Fox News Digital back in May as she was set to grill another group of college leaders.
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"House Republicans will use every tool at our disposal to ensure accountability from campus leadership for allowing self-proclaimed terrorists to turn once acclaimed American colleges into dens of antisemitic hate."
During last year's college school year, agitators and student protesters flooded college campuses nationwide to protest the war in Israel, which also included spiking instances of antisemitism and Jewish students publicly speaking out that they do not feel safe on some campuses.
Radicals on Columbia University’s campus, for example, took over the school's Hamilton Hall building, while schools such as UCLA, Harvard and Yale worked to clear spiraling student encampments where protesters demanded their elite schools completely divest from Israel.
Terrorist organization Hamas launched a war in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which initially fanned the flames of antisemitism on campuses in the form of protests, menacing graffiti and students reporting that they felt as if it was "open season for Jews on our campuses." The protests then heightened to the point Jewish students at some schools, including Columbia, were warned to leave campus for their own safety.
Stefanik has served as a leading voice against antisemitism, including taking victory laps when University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill and Harvard President Claudine Gay resigned from their positions amid widespread backlash for waffling in their answers to Stefanik during a House hearing last year.
Stefanik grilled Magill and Gay in December regarding whether "calling for the genocide of Jews" violates the respective school’s codes of conduct. The pair were both unable to provide direct answers.
"It can be, depending on the context," Gay responded.
"Antisemitic speech when it crosses into conduct that amounts to bullying, harassment, intimidation – that is actionable conduct, and we do take action," Gay said when pressed to answer "yes" or "no" if calls for the genocide of Jews breaks school rules.
"So the answer is yes, that calling for the genocide of Jews violates Harvard code of conduct, correct?" Stefanik asked.
"Again, it depends on the context," Gay said.
"It does not depend on the context. The answer is yes and this is why you should resign," Stefanik responded. "These are unacceptable answers across the board."
Magill answered similarly during the hearing, with both issuing apologies following outrage from Jewish groups, the public and lawmakers that the school presidents could not unequivocally answer Stefanik's questions. The pair subsequently resigned from their Ivy League jobs as outrage mounted.
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"One down. Two to go," Stefanik posted after their resignations. "This is only the very beginning of addressing the pervasive rot of antisemitism that has destroyed the most ‘prestigious’ higher education institutions in America. This forced resignation of the president of @Penn is the bare minimum of what is required. These universities can anticipate a robust and comprehensive Congressional investigation of all facets of their institutions negligent perpetration of antisemitism including administrative, faculty, funding, and overall leadership and governance."
Stefanik continued grilling college administrators in other hearings, and has also publicly lambasted anti-Israel protests that have cropped up, including when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the United States in July and Vice President Kamala Harris skipping his address to Congress.
"Kamala Harris' embarrassing snub of @netanyahu's Joint Address to Congress was a stunt to appease the pro-Hamas base of the Democrat Party that just burned American flags, clashed with police, and spread dangerous pro-terror chaos and violence. Why won’t Kamala disavow these antisemitic terrorist sympathizers?" Stefanik posted to her X account of Harris. The vice president ultimately did condemn the protests in July during Netanyahu's visit to the U.S., and met with Netanyahu one-on-one after skipping his address to Congress.
Stefanik also supported Trump amid his Manhattan criminal trial, where he was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree in May. Trump has maintained his innocence in the case, calling the trial a "witch hunt" and "scam" promoted by Democrats to hamper his campaign for the White House.
"Today’s verdict shows how corrupt, rigged, and unAmerican the weaponized justice system has become under Joe Biden and Democrats. I fully support President Trump appealing this decision and look forward to a higher New York Court to deliver justice and overturn this verdict," Stefanik told Fox Digital following the verdict.
"The facts are clear: this was a zombie case illegally brought forward by a corrupt prosecutor doing Joe Biden’s political bidding in a desperate attempt to save Joe Biden’s failing campaign," she continued.
Stefanik also railed against the presiding judge in the case, Juan Merchan, filing ethics complaints against him for an alleged conflict of interest pertaining to his daughter’s role at a firm known for representing Democratic politicians. She filed ethics complaints in both May and September, with the most recent complaint alleging Merchan's daughter's consulting firm was working with the Harris campaign.
"On August 20, 2024, Vice President Harris’s campaign submitted its first Federal Election Commission (FEC) report that documented expenses and donations through July 31, 2024. In the report... a July 30, 2024, disbursement appears in the amount of $468.00 from Vice President Harris’s campaign to Authentic Campaigns Inc. (Authentic) for web hosting services," Stefanik wrote in her complaint. "This indicates that one of the very first things that Harris did upon taking over the Biden campaign infrastructure is to hire this firm, Authentic."
"Authentic is a digital consulting and marketing firm that services Democrat candidates. Loren Merchan, Justice Merchan’s daughter, is its president," Stefanik added.
Under Trump's first administration, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and former diplomat Kelly Craft served as U.N. ambassadors.
The U.N. is currently bracing for a shake-up following Trump's massive win last week over Harris.
"They will have to recalibrate now very much again in the Trump administration that will, I believe, be much more attentive, engaged and monitoring of the U.N.," predicted Hugh Dugan, a longtime member of the U.S. delegation to the U.N., Fox Digital previously reported.
"There are teams there that have been sleepwalking the last few years without U.S. pressure on accountability, efficiency and effectiveness."
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The U.N. will elect its next secretary general in 2026, when Trump will be back in the Oval Office and the U.S. has veto power over candidates.
"Over the next year and a half, it's going to make an effort to look more managerially competent to avoid some of the stern green eyes seated across here – attention that Elon Musk and the Trump team will want to bring to the consideration of the secretary general selection."
In addition to the anticipated U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accords and the U.N. Global Compact on Migration, the Trump administration is expected to make financial cuts to the U.N., following his cuts to the international body during his first term.
"There's no doubt the U.N. is frightened and horrified," of Trump taking office, said Hillel Neuer, executive director of U.N. Watch.
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"We're going to see budget cuts," he said. "The most memorable being UNRWA."
Stefanik has shown herself as a fervent ally of Trump's, who does not shy away from sparring with liberals or railing against what she views as corruption or mismanagement, likely teeing up fireworks for her role as U.N. ambassador.
"I am truly honored to earn President Trump's nomination to serve in his Cabinet as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations," Stefanik told the New York Post, which first reported on the nomination Sunday. "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. 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."
Fox News Digital's Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.
