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Elise Stefanik and top Cuomo aide Melissa DeRosa had been close friends since middle school. In 2019, DeRosa told me that Stefanik was always "so morally supportive," even across political lines. DeRosa was one of only a handful of old classmates at her wedding
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"There have been times over the years when I have called her, practically in tears, saying, ‘This just happened, I feel so beaten down, I don’t know what to do anymore,’” DeRosa told me. “And she is so morally supportive and will be there to coach through whatever the issue is.”
But later, during the impeachment trial, a rift began to grow between the two old friends.
According to a source with knowledge of the convo, DeRosa called Stefanik as a friend and said she was concerned that "you can't come back from this."
According to a source with knowledge of the convo, DeRosa called Stefanik as a friend and said she was concerned that "you can't come back from this."
Things got even worse in 2020. At the height of Covid, when Cuomo redirected some upstate ventilators to NYC hospitals, their relationship deteriorated even further.
This was their relationship in 2019:
By 2021, they were in open war.
Here's DeRosa on Stefanik in the aftermath of the Jan 6 insurrection:
Here's DeRosa on Stefanik in the aftermath of the Jan 6 insurrection:
And here's Stefanik on DeRosa's alleged involvement in Cuomo's nursing home scandal:
I first called DeRosa about Stefanik for my 2020 book, The Ones We've Been Waiting For. That's when she told me what a good friend she was, how bipartisan, how supportive, etc.
When I called her back for this updated story, a spokesperson for DeRosa said that Stefanik had "sold her soul to the Devil" https://time.com/6046674/elise-stefanik-liz-cheney-republican/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=editorial&utm_term=politics_&linkId=118345880
Stefanik's spokesperson said that DeRosa was a "federal criminal" and "the most anti-woman disgraceful hack there is," and called her "the Ghislaine of New York State politics."
These women had been friends for 20 years!
These women had been friends for 20 years!
DeRosa isn't the only person from Stefanik's past who is speaking out now.
Caroline Mason was the headmistress of their girl's school and Stefanik was her favorite student. Mason watched her grow up and kept in touch with her for years.
Caroline Mason was the headmistress of their girl's school and Stefanik was her favorite student. Mason watched her grow up and kept in touch with her for years.
when I called her for The Ones We've Been Waiting For, Mason told me that Stefanik was "a terrific role model."
"Her moral compass is very strong, and she has impeccable integrity," she said.
They were so close that Mason even helped officiate Stefanik's 2017 wedding
"Her moral compass is very strong, and she has impeccable integrity," she said.
They were so close that Mason even helped officiate Stefanik's 2017 wedding
When I called Mason back recently, she said that "something stronger took hold of her" and Stefanik had joined the "Trump cult."
“She basically abandoned her own core values for a man who had no core values."
“She basically abandoned her own core values for a man who had no core values."
In 2018/2019, I called nearly everyone I could find who knew Elise Stefanik in any way for my book. The universal consensus, from Dems and Rs, was that she was highly intelligent, an excellent leader, and a person of deep integrity. Even her political rivals respected her
Now, says one former R colleague, she's a "handmaiden to Trump."
"It’s embarrassing. It’s sad.” https://time.com/6046674/elise-stefanik-liz-cheney-republican/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=editorial&utm_term=politics_&linkId=118345880
"It’s embarrassing. It’s sad.” https://time.com/6046674/elise-stefanik-liz-cheney-republican/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=editorial&utm_term=politics_&linkId=118345880
Anyway: all this and more in the revised and updated paperback version of The Ones We've Been Waiting For, out May 18 https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780525561521
