Pro-Trump congresswoman who replaced Liz Cheney in GOP purge announces she is pregnant

<p>File image: Elise Stefanik replaced Liz Cheney in the No 3 position in the House Republican caucus last month</p> (AP)

File image: Elise Stefanik replaced Liz Cheney in the No 3 position in the House Republican caucus last month

(AP)

US representative Elise Stefanik, who is known for her fierce support for former president Donald Trump and was recently elevated to a leadership post in the House Republican caucus, announced she is expecting her first child.

“We are absolutely overjoyed to announce that our small family of 2 will soon be 3!” wrote the Republican representative in her social media post on Twitter and Instagram on Saturday. “We're excited to share that we are expecting a baby this fall and we cannot wait to meet our precious bundle of joy," she said.

She also posted photos of herself with a baby bump with her husband Mathew Manda sitting next to her.

The four-term Congress member earned the No 3 position in the Republican caucus last month. She took over the role from Wyoming Representative Liz Cheney, who was replaced following her pushback against Mr Trump’s voter fraud claims. She claimed victory after a 134-46 vote in the closed-door election.

She was first elected to Congress in 2014 to represent New York’s 21st Congressional district and was the youngest member of Congress at that time.

Ms Stefanik has emerged as a strong defender of Mr Trump in the House recently, however, she has taken several stands against him in the past. According to an analysis by FiveThirtyEight, Ms Stefanik supported Mr Trump’s position in 77.7 per cent of House votes, however, that’s less than Ms Cheney, who has supported the former president in 92.9 per cent of the votes.

Out of all House Republicans, Ms Stefanik had the 22nd lowest score in terms of supporting Mr Trump.

However, recently she supported the claims of voter fraud by Mr Trump and claimed that in Georgia “more than 140,000 votes came from underage, deceased, and otherwise unauthorised voters — in Fulton County alone.” This is a claim that has been proven wrong.

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