The White House is denying President Trump’s gushing remarks about Rep. Elise Stefanik at an Oval Office event Friday are a new move toward a primary endorsement.
Stefanik scored the prime position behind the president in an Oval Office photo op Friday, celebrating the US Olympic hockey team’s “Miracle On Ice” in Lake Placid, which is part of her congressional district.
The congresswoman was positioned just behind the president, standing out among a group of cowboy hat-wearing former college athletes who pulled off the ultimate upset against the Soviet Olympic team in 1980.
Trump talked up Stefanik and mentioned her race against Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman — tipping the scales a tad against the Trump friend who launched his own campaign just four days earlier.
“Everybody knows Elise, she’s doing phenomenally well and she’s running for a little position called governor of New York. She’s got a hell of a shot at it, it’s all I can see,” Trump said of her bid to upend Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY).
“She’s got a little competition with a very good Republican, but she’s a great Republican,” Trump added.
“He thinks highly of her,” a senior White House official told The Post afterward, while denying it signified a new primary position. “If he didn’t think highly of her, he wouldn’t have nominated her to be ambassador to the UN. She was very helpful during the campaign.”
On Wednesday, Trump dodged the question when The Post asked him if he had told Blakeman not to run for governor. “He’s a friend. She’s a friend. These are two great people running. In a way, I hate to see them running against each other. I hope they’re not going to be damaging each other,” he said.
He was vague when asked if he would step in with an endorsement later. “I’ll probably have to do what I want to do,” Trump said.
The precise nature of Trump’s role is proving to be a sensitive subject. The New York Times ran a correction to a Dec. 10 story where it said it “inaccurately” reported on a call from Trump to Blakeman, saying that he “stopped short of explicitly” telling Blakeman not to run, but that he did try to “dissuade” him from running.
“I know President Trump appreciates competition and I’m sure that he feels that nobody should be coronated – that there is a process. And he’s probably figuring out which is the better candidate, which is the smart thing to do,” Blakeman told The Post in an interview before he threw his hat in the ring.
That prompted a reproach from the White House. “Nobody should speak for President Trump, unless authorized by President Trump,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told The Post.
“County Executive Blakeman made it clear that he was not speaking for the president but based on President Trump’s history as an outstanding athlete and former professional football team owner, it is widely known and public knowledge that he is the ultimate competitor and enjoys competition,” Blakeman Communications Director Chris Boyle said in response.
“New data shared by the President shows that while illegal immigrants make up approximately 4% of New York’s population, they account for roughly 14% of the state’s prison and jail population,” he wrote.
“Bruce Blakeman is very grateful that President Trump has referred to him as ‘great’ and ‘fantastic,’” the statement said.
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