Kevin McCarthy, Elise Stefanik Praise Donald Trump's Energy, Agenda in Joint Interview
The three top ranking Republicans in the House of Representatives sat down for a joint interview with Fox News' host Sean Hannity on Friday and recommitted to supporting former President Donald Trump.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Minority Whip Steve Scalise and newly-elected House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik indicated their strong support for Trump's agenda.
Stefanik, who this week replaced Representative Liz Cheney as the third ranking House Republican, criticized President Joe Biden and said the U.S. was now facing "multiple crises."
Hannity asked Stefanik if she disagreed with what he defines as "the Trump agenda, the Make America Great Again agenda."
The Fox News host has frequently asked Republican guests this question and has previously defined the agenda to include market solutions to healthcare, freedom and constitutionalists on the bench.
Stefanik said she agreed with Trump's agenda for the country. She also said people across the U.S. agreed with the former president's ideas.
"We're experiencing multiple crises under President Biden and Speaker Pelosi," Stefanik said. "We have a border crisis, we have an economic crisis and we have a national security crisis in the Middle East."
Later in the interview, McCarthy offered praise of former President Trump and contrasted him unfavorably with Biden. Hannity said he saw the president as "a little bit out of it."
McCarthy told Hannity that when he met Biden recently the president was "with it" and "engaged."
"But at no time, having known Joe Biden for quite some time, does he have the energy of Donald Trump," McCarthy said. "We both know it. Donald Trump didn't need to sleep five hours a night. And he would be engaged.
"If you called Donald Trump, he'd get on the phone before staff did. He'd tell ... bring other people down. In his first week, he had a bipartisan, bicameral meeting inside the White House."
Hannity asked how Stefanik would deal with the fact that some members of the Republican caucus, such as Representatives Adam Kinzinger and Chip Roy, didn't want her as chair. She pointed to the fact that her district - New York's 21st - had voted for former President Barack Obama twice but went for Trump in 2016 and 2020.
"It tells the story of today's Republican party — how we've grown this party among working-class Americans," she said and criticized the "far left and radical agenda of the social Democrats."
The interview represents the first major media outing for Stefanik following her election as House Republican Conference Chair. GOP members of the House voted to oust Cheney following her sustained criticism of Trump and his unfounded claims that the 2020 presidential election was "stolen."
Newsweek has asked the White House for comment.
