Rep. Elise Stefanik Mocked For Asking If Things Are Better Now Than 2020

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) was mocked on Wednesday for having either a very short memory… or a very selective one.

In remarks following Donald Trump’s decisive showing on Super Tuesday ― where he all but clinched the 2024 Republican presidential nomination ― Stefanik, the House Republican Conference chair, attempted to update a rhetorical question used by Ronald Reagan during a 1980 presidential debate with then-President Jimmy Carter.

That question, of course, is: “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?”

It worked for Reagan, as the country was suffering from inflation, high gas prices and a lingering sense of malaise. But Stefanik’s echo of the question didn’t quite have the same potency.

The reason is probably self-evident to anyone old enough to be reading this: While many people are undoubtedly having a hard time today, 2024 simply isn’t the disorienting, dystopian horror that was 2020, when the world was turned upside down by COVID-19.

Not surprisingly, many users of X, formerly Twitter, tried to jog Stefanik’s memory about what we were all actually going through four years ago.

Support HuffPost

Our 2024 Coverage Needs You

At HuffPost, we believe that everyone needs high-quality journalism, but we understand that not everyone can afford to pay for expensive news subscriptions. That is why we are committed to providing deeply reported, carefully fact-checked news that is freely accessible to everyone.

Whether you come to HuffPost for updates on the 2024 presidential race, hard-hitting investigations into critical issues facing our country today, or trending stories that make you laugh, we appreciate you. The truth is, news costs money to produce, and we are proud that we have never put our stories