Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., set off a "Bud Light moment," in the words of a Republican former governor of Indiana, after her questioning of three elite college presidents went viral and caused a media firestorm online.
"More than achieving vindication, Stefanik opened a new front in the culture wars — all while scrambling the Democratic Party’s traditional coalition of well-educated voters and their institutions of higher education," Politico wrote of Stefanik's time in the media spotlight.
Stefanik's questioning of three university presidents at a House hearing has made Harvard President Claudine Gay, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) President Sally Kornbluth and exiting University of Pennsylvania (Penn) President Liz Magill the targets of serious criticism.
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Stefanik questioned all three presidents for their universities' response to calls for the genocide of Jews, with Magill resigning in the wake of the controversy.
Retired former president of Purdue University and a former Republican governor of Indiana, Mitch Daniels, said it was "higher ed’s Bud Light moment when people who hang out with only people who adhere to what has become prevailing and dominant ideologies on campuses and suddenly discover there’s a world of people out there who disagrees."
It was a reference to Bud Light's partnership with trasngender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, which resulted in the loss of millions in revenue and the resignation of marketing employees.
Daniels said that the three university presidents questioned by Stefanik were similarly unprepared for the backlash they have since received over their statements.
"Were they unprepared?" Daniels told Politico. "Yes, they were unprepared by a lifetime of being cloistered in an ideological bubble and groupthink."
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Other prominent Republicans have weighed in on the issue.
GOP Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin told Bloomberg that Stefanik's questioning of the three college presidents was a "cultural moment."
"There is a tipping point, and we have to be clear on where that tipping point is," Youngkin said. "And extermination speech is clearly on the wrong side of that tipping point."
On a cultural level, NBC's Saturday Night Live (SNL) was bashed for a skit mocking Stefanik after the hearing. SNL's cold open this week was about the congressional testimony from college presidents of Harvard, UPenn and MIT. However, it was widely considered a flop due to its perceived focus on a GOP lawmaker instead of the controversial testimony of the college presidents.
On a national level, President Biden and his team have been forced to respond to the controversy around the three college presidents.
"The president believes strongly that this is a moment to put your foot down and to ensure we have moral clarity," White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said Monday.
Stefanik's office did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Fox News' Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report.
