There was a time, not long ago, when Elise Stefanik was eager to be understood, sharing parts of herself with the world, as any 30-something might, on Instagram.
Pinned to the top of her page, a row of old stories, archived for anyone to revisit, contained Q&As she used to conduct on the social media platform. Most of the posts were from 2019, when the congresswoman from New York was just beginning to journey deeper into President Donald Trump’s world, but did not quite yet inhabit it. Stefanik liked to share a lot back then: pictures of her mom’s Christmas Day omelets; her dad’s Christmas Eve pierogies, in honor of his Polish heritage; date nights with her husband; her manicure, painted glittering gold for the holidays. The Elise Stefanik on Instagram gave snippets of earnest advice and liked to tag her friends, punctuating inside jokes with laughing-crying and eye emojis. There were posts about the family dog, Nala. Her love of Broadway show tunes. Her favorite restaurants. The first jobs she worked as a clerk at an Old Navy store, as a counselor at an astronomy camp, as a coat check girl at a museum.
