Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government announced Wednesday that it’s cutting ties with Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), following last week’s attack on the U.S. Capitol by protesters who refuse to accept that Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election.
In a message posted online, Kennedy School Dean Douglas Elmendorf said he previously asked Stefanik to step down from the Senior Advisory Committee to the Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics, which works to steer Harvard students into politics and public service, after speaking with students, alumni, and colleagues.
“My request was not about political parties, political ideology, or her choice of candidate for president,” Elmendorf said. “Rather, in my assessment, Elise has made public assertions about voter fraud in November’s presidential election that have no basis in evidence, and she has made public statements about court actions related to the election that are incorrect.
“Moreover, these assertions and statements do not reflect policy disagreements but bear on the foundations of the electoral process through which this country’s leaders are chosen,” he added.
Stefanik announced on Jan. 4 that she would object to the certification of "certain contested electors" on Jan. 6, saying in a video posted on Twitter, "Tens of millions of Americans are rightly concerned that the 2020 election featured unprecedented voting irregularities, unconstitutional overreach ... and a fundamental lack of ballot integrity and ballot security."
When Stefanik refused to step down from her role on the advisory committee, Elmendorf decided to remove her from her role, he said.
On Twitter, Stefanik, who graduated from Harvard College in 2006, accused Harvard of “bowing to the woke Far-Left” and showcasing academia’s “sneering disdain for everyday Americans.”
In an undated article published on the Institute of Politics’ website, Stefanik said Americans “want a government … focused on economic growth and job creation,” adding: “I believe that the path to growing the GOP is to have a positive message with new types of candidates.”
She also predicted that she and other millennials would improve American politics, saying, “ Despite the frustration with Washington, I am an eternal optimist and believe that the future of American politics is bright.
“The ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit that helped usher in companies like Facebook and Uber needs to be applied to government,” Stefanik said. “We need new ideas. And we need elected officials who have the courage to lead. I believe millennials have both qualities.”
Stefanik’s Institute of Politics biography, which has been removed from the website, previously identified her as “a graduate of Harvard College and the youngest GOP woman ever elected to Congress,” and described an eight-to-ten-week internship available in her office to Harvard students.
In 2017, the Kennedy School was criticized for awarding Institute of Politics fellowships to former Trump spokesman Sean Spicer and former Trump campaign manager Cory Lewandowski, as well as whistleblower Chelsea Manning. (Manning's offer was later rescinded.) In 2018, Elmendorf announced new guidelines for vetting fellows that included assessing their "values."
