Chairwoman Elise Stefanik Joins CNN Live from the GOP Convention 07.18.2024

here with me right now is Republican congresswoman from New York the chair of the House of Republican Congress conference Alise stonic that would also be another promotion the house Republican Congress would be would be something that I know you guys are seeking well we have the Republicans have control of of the house of course of course like the full Congress um um day today is the first day of the official JD Advance as a run M as he accepted the VP nomination last night what do you think or what do you want to see him do first as the running mate well I think we've already we know that he and president Trump are doing their first joint rally in Michigan uh this weekend and I think JD Vance's personal story is a story that can happen only in America I think that was an extraordinary moment last night to hear his personal story to have his mom in the president's box and uh his military service post 911 I mean this is the first post 911 veteran uh to ever be on a presidential ticket and what a STK contrast uh with the Democrats who are in complete disarray that's my big takeaway from this convention and I've been involved in a lot of conventions over the years this is very unified and exciting and a historic convention and I think JD Vance did a tremendous job last night and I'm really looking forward as the American people are from hearing from president Trump it's thinking of um what's happening with Democrats you this the fact that now President Biden has been has gotten covid and now he's isolating for a couple of days taking him off the campaign Trail I mean you know you're working as hard as you can in order to make sure he does not get another term term in in the white house but what did you think after everything that's that's happened and all the pressure that has been mounting on Joe Biden to get out what what did you think when you heard and he has Co listen this is a president who has failed he's failed the American people and one of the themes of the Republican convention has been hearing from everyday Americans and their stories have been really extraordinary and heartfelt it's brought tears to many of the attendees eyes in terms of losses of loved ones because of the fentanyl crisis because of Joe Biden's border policies or the Goldstar families from the Afghanistan catastrophic withdrawal uh that was just an unbelievable moment in that bravery and courage to come out and speak to a national audience Joe Biden has failed as commander-in-chief I have said for over a year he is mentally and physically unfit to do this job and then we saw when 50 million Americans viewed that first debate where he struggled to get through any basic sentence basically uh it was just it's very clear for the American people to see look at that stark contrast with the strength we saw from president Trump after an assassination attempt standing up holding his fist and saying to fight that's extraordinary strength Defiance and the rest of the world sees that the American people see that last night here in the hall we saw a mix of things we we heard a very red meat message from Donald Donald Trump Jr um but just before that we also heard from his daughter Donald Trump's granddaughter and her message very clearly was talking about her personal experience with him as a grandfather kind of trying to soften maybe the the sharp corners of Donald Trump I want to play I want to play foreverone to remind them you know Donald Trump Jr and Kai as her name and also her dad Donald Trump Jr listen to this he's just a normal Grandpa he gives us candy and soda when our parents are un looking he always wants to know how we're doing in school when I made the high honoral he printed it out to show his friends how proud he was on me they told one non-stop lie after another about my father but they could only run away from reality for so long all hell has broken loose in America and it's impossible to hide anymore which of those which of the two trumps kind of described there do you think he needs to present tonight and Beyond more to be successful in this election I think both Don Jr and Kai Trump were great speeches because the media coverage this is a family that has been through Relentless Relentless attacks from the mainstream media for well over the past decade When Donald Trump first ran as an outsider in 2016 so what they have been through whether it is the Russia hoax whether it was the two uh impeachments that or Shams uh whether it was just the attacks on their family members I thought Kai Trump speech that was a great surprise for everyone to hear the personal side of President Trump as a grandfather which he is and take a step back and think about his family members many of those family members saw that live on TV and were praying for their grandfather or father to stand up so he is a person and I've been able to interact and become very close with President Trump he is amazing when it comes to wanting the best for the Next Generation whether it's his own kids or children Across America I feel that when I introduced my son a couple months old to president Trump and I think Don Jr really touched upon just the Relentless attacks from the mainstream media that we have as Republicans have had to fight through and talk about this the policy success of President Trump versus the policy failures of Joe Biden but of the two sides of trump which one do you think he should be projecting more do you think is needed in this election to be successful in this election I don't think there's two sides of Trumps I think you're going to see a very Unified message and I spoke with President Trump Sunday morning after the assassination attempt and he talked about how he's rewriting his speech talking about Unity but you're going to hear the policies the importance of securing the border the importance of peace through strength when you are serving as commander-in-chief his record versus Joe Biden's failed record the American people want to hear that because the record today of Joe Biden is just a failure I think about my constituents in Upstate New York and the North Country inflation the Border crisis people forget about the northern border but we're seeing skyrocketing numbers of illegals coming across our northern border as well because of Joe Biden's failed policies um don don Jr was at an event um with axus here in Milwaukee and he said that the only reason why Donald Trump would lose this election at this point is and he said is cheating in the election do you agree with that well we saw in 2020 significant irregularities unconstitutional uh circumventing of state legislator unilaterally changing election law uh we need to make sure we talk about 2020 we we to make sure we have election Integrity which the RNC is very focused on in these states and we're not going to take this for granted we are going to run through the tape to election day we know I mean we're working as House Republicans to grow our Republican majority and we are going to continue Prosecuting this case of two very different Visions for America two very different records so uh what I'm also excited about is this Republican party under President Trump has unified historic support among Hispanics historic support among African-Americans and what you didn't quote but I think was an important message from Don Junior last night was if you are or haven't voted before or have hesitated to vote it because there are Americans who haven't voted he urged them to get up and get involved and vote for the future of this country I thought that was a very important message as well reason reason I bring this up and axus is just kind of laying the ground what that lays the groundwork for if he says the only way that Donald Trump would lose at this point is cheating I mean are you are you that confident right now to be able to say that that there's the only way that Donald Trump would lose at this point would be if there is cheating in this well think about this you have Democrats right now who are begging to have Joe Biden high ranking Democrats too Chuck Schumer Nancy Pelosi and many many house members who are senior Adam Schiff others who are calling for Joe Biden to be removed from the ballot this is someone who was elected through the Democratic process by primary voters across the country they are in disarray and that would be unprecedented uh and I think you're going to continue to see KS and the Democrat Party we're focused on winning on Election Day we're focused on ballot Integrity election Integrity the RNC is very focused on that uh and I have uh we're going to continue again making sure we make the case but I never take elections for granted I I know that as a candidate for office many years and I know Republicans aren't going to take it for granted yeah Le stonic congresswoman thank you for coming in thank you so much time let's see the big speech tonight and then everyone here finally gets to maybe sleep thank you very much so much for coming in Sarah