Bay State News

Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics (IOP) removed U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) from its Senior Advisory Committee for claims she made regarding election fraud.

Dean Douglas Elmendorf said in a letter that the election fraud claims Stefanik made were baseless.

“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,” Elmendorf wrote in the letter. “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.”

Elmendorf wrote in the letter that he made the decision to remove Stefanik from her position on the committee after speaking with IOP Director Mark Gearan. The letter noted that the decision was not made because of her political affiliation, her political ideology, or her candidate preference, but specifically because of her claims of voter fraud.

“In my conversation with Elise, she declined to step aside, and I told her that I would therefore remove her from the IOP’s Senior Advisory Committee at this time,” Elmendorf wrote in the letter.

Stefanik tweeted about the decision, saying that she saw the decision as Harvard bowing to the far left.

“The decision by Harvard’s administration to cower and cave to the woke Left will continue to erode diversity of thought, public discourse, and ultimately the student experience,” Stefanik wrote. “The Ivory Tower’s march toward a monoculture of like-minded, intolerant liberal views demonstrates the sneering disdain for everyday Americans and will instill a culture of fear for students who will understand that a conservative viewpoint will not be tolerated and will be silenced.”

Stefanik said the board now only consisted of people who voted for President-elect Joe Biden.