Donald Trump seems happy that New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik has endorsed him, but apparently, he doesn’t trust her. If you spend time listening to her, it’s easy to see why. The third-ranking Republican replaced U.S. Rep Liz Cheney as chair of the House Republican Conference in 2021, The Independent reports.

The New York Times recently profiled Stefanik, noting the congresswoman has earned a reputation for diligence “in forwarding the party’s message” and in her “unabashedly transactional” relationships to curry support as she gains more prominence through Congress’s lower chamber.

But sources who know former president Donald Trump have thrown ice water on stories that she may be a suitable running mate alongside him. These stories are “regarded as clumsy plants by her own team, and inspire bemusement and mockery.”

“Trump liked her, they said, and liked watching her defend him. But even he didn’t trust her,” the Times reported.

Stefanik’s rise has been meteoric, per the Times, as she has grown from to a prominent figure on the GOP’s far-right stage having developed a self-described “ultra-MAGA” agenda that includes parroting Trump’s baseless claims of election fraud. She has even adopted conspiracy theories that, per The Independent “appeal to a reactionary base.” Apparently, she’s in lockstep with fellow congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.).

“Republican voters determine who is the leader of the Republican Party, and it’s very clear President Trump is the leader of the Republican Party,” she said last November.

But she’s also allegedly called Trump a “whack job” (pot meet kettle?) so maybe her support of the ex-president is all for show. Who knows with these clowns?

Now, however, she’s ready to help fellow House Republicans become a more significant stumbling block for the Biden administration than they already are. Republicans now have a slim majority in the House, and that makes it much easier for them to wield that ax.

“For the past two years, the American people have suffered from crisis after crisis because of failed one-party Democrat rule in Washington,” she posted on Twitter. But as soon as members of Congress are sworn in on Jan. 3 “that ENDS.”

For the past two years, the American people have suffered from crisis after crisis because of failed one-party Democrat rule in Washington.

In 3 days, that ENDS.

— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) December 31, 2022

But Stefanik has also created friction between herself and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (R-N.Y.). After the Times published its profile of the far-right congresswoman, Ocasio-Cortez “pointed to its characterization of the Republican’s alleged annoyance that the Democratic representative ‘had not shown her the respect she felt was her due,’ fueling in part Ms. Stefanik’s descent on the right.”

“What is it with people randomly blaming the mere existence of others for their own descent into embracing neo-nazism? Like girl you did that all on your own,” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez tweeted December 31. “Unless her suggestion here is she started endorsing great replacement theory because she couldn’t treat me like the help.”

What is it with people randomly blaming the mere existence of others for their own descent into embracing neo-nazism? Like girl you did that all on your own.

Unless her suggestion here is she started endorsing great replacement theory because she couldn’t treat me like the help https://t.co/5dC2JsKoNY

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 31, 2022

So apparently Stefanik thinks that the more progressive Democrats, especially those of color, owe her a living or something. Kudos to Ocasio-Cortez for putting her on blast.

The so-called “Great Replacement Theory” is another cockamamie conspiracy theory that baselessly claims politicians are trying to wipe out white Americans and the role they have played in influencing the U.S. and replace them with immigrants of color, The Washington Post reports. As the Independent notes, Stefanik and other GOPers came under well-deserved scrutiny after the horrifically racist attack in Buffalo, New York, after they echoed similar”Great Replacement claims that spurred the attack.

Stefanik’s campaign published a series of fear-mongering ads on Facebook in September 2021 that claimed Democratic are purposely allowing immigrants into the U.S. to eventually outnumber and outvote Republicans. That, the Independent reports, is a “tenet of the white supremacist theory.”

“Radical Democrats are planning their most aggressive move yet: a PERMANENT ELECTION INSURRECTION,” one of the ads screamed. “Their plan to grant amnesty to 11 MILLION illegal immigrants will overthrow our current electorate and create a permanent liberal majority in Washington.”

All I can say here is that it’s clear to me that the inmates are running the asylum in the Republican Party. This theory is completely nuts and if even Donald Trump is giving Stefanik a wide berth she must really be cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs.

Wow.