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Stefanik sticks with Trump, rebuffs calls for her resignation

In this image from video, Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., speaks as the House reconvenes to debate the objection to confirm the Electoral College vote from Arizona, after protesters stormed into the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6. (House Television via AP)

Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, said she will not resign her post and will continue to support President Donald Trump, after receiving criticism from a number of officials and organizations for her decision to object to certain state’s electoral votes last week.

Last week, Stefanik was preparing to deliver her floor speech explaining why she was objecting to the electoral votes from Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia and Michigan, when supporters of Trump broke into the Capitol building in an attempt to stop the vote count and certification of President-elect Joseph Biden’s victory.

Elected officials and their staff hid throughout the Capitol complex for hours as the rioters broke windows, stole from offices and threatened to kill certain members of Congress.

After the rioters were expelled from the Capitol, Stefanik voted to object to the results from Pennsylvania, although she did not get the opportunity to object to the other states she identified.

That decision sparked criticism across New York’s 21st Congressional District, and the state.

At the congresswoman’s offices in Watertown, Glens Falls and Plattsburgh on Thursday, protesters called for her resignation. A petition calling for her to resign was circulated online, which by 5 p.m. Sunday night had garnered more than 13,000 signatures.

On Saturday, Stefanik was in Dannemora, Clinton County, to protest the planned closure of Clinton Correctional Facility’s Annex — one of three correctional facilities across the slate to close in March. Watertown and Gowanda Correctional, Erie County, are also slated to close.

Speaking with WCAX Channel 3 of Plattsburgh after the event, Stefanik said those protesters and petitioners were well within their rights to call for her resignation, but she believes the debate over the election results was worthwhile.

“President-elect Biden was certified, but that debate was important for the American people to hear,” she told the news station.

Stefanik said she has no plans to resign and touted her 20-percentage-point victory over her Democratic challenger Tedra Cobb in November’s election as a sign she should stay on.

Stefanik said she plans to stick by Trump through the end of his term, despite calls from state leaders, including Gov. Andrew Cuomo, for New York’s federal representatives to join in the push for the president’s resignation or impeachment.

A spokesperson for the congresswoman said last week that Stefanik is “vehemently opposed” to supporting the use of the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office.

“I oppose the Democrats’ very political push to impeach the president,” Stefanik told WCAX. “There are 12 days left before the inauguration. There will be an inauguration and a peaceful transition of power on January 20. That is the American way.”

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