Rep. Liz Cheney Blasts Trump Again After Impeachment Vote Blowback: ‘We Aren’t The Party Of White Supremacy’ - Forbes

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Topline

House GOP conference chair Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) doubled down Tuesday on her criticisms of former President Donald Trump, and of his supporters’ attack on the U.S. Capitol, despite being attacked by Republicans for voting for his impeachment, slamming Trump’s “absolutely unacceptable behavior” during the riot in the closing days of his presidency and saying her party shouldn’t “trivialize” the event.

Key Facts

In a conversation with the Reagan Foundation, Cheney said it was “very important for us to ignore the temptation to look away” from the Jan. 6 attack, noting that attacks on Americans’ freedom “must not be minimized.”

Citing imagery seen at the Capitol riot like Holocaust denial paraphenalia and a Confederate flag, Cheney said it was incumbent on Republicans to “make clear that we aren’t the party of white supremacy” by denouncing the event.

Cheney slammed Trump for his delayed and insufficient efforts to denounce or try to stop the riot, saying Republicans need “to make clear that is absolutely unacceptable behavior, it is dangerous, it’s an existential threat to who we are.”

She also slammed Trump’s months-long campaign to challenge the results of the election under the pretense it was “stolen,” saying the GOP should “recognize the damage” that was done by his “dangerous claim.”

Cheney pointed out that more than 60 court cases had failed that claimed widespread election fraud, and said the suggestion that Congress could potentially overturn the election results when it counted the electoral votes on Jan. 6 “was never true, was unconstitutional, was wrong.”

Cheney pointed out that more than 60 court cases had failed that alleged fraud or other issues with the election results, and said the suggestion that Congress could potentially overturn the election results when it counted the electoral votes on Jan. 6 “was never true, was unconstitutional, was wrong.”

In addition to criticizing Trump’s actions around the election, Cheney also attacked his “America First” policy, saying the isolationist foreign policy ideas were “just as dangerous today as they were in 1940 when isolationists launched the America First movement to appease Hitler.”

Crucial Quote

“Those of us who care deeply about our history and our future, who take our oaths and our obligations seriously, will steer our party and our nation into the future,” Cheney said Tuesday, as the Republican leader faces attacks from many in the party who remain loyal to Trump. “We will right the unforgivable wrongs of Jan. 6, we will make our party worthy once again of the mantle of Lincoln and Reagan, and we will ensure that the forces of freedom prevail in the decades to come.”

Chief Critic

“If Liz Cheney spent half as much time attacking Democrats as she does attacking Republicans, we’d be in the majority already!” Trump advisor Jason Miller said Tuesday in response to Cheney’s remarks, USA Today reports.

Key Background

Cheney was the most prominent House Republican to vote for Trump’s impeachment for his role in the Capitol insurrection, sparking a censure from the Wyoming GOP and effort to oust her from the party’s House leadership. Cheney ultimately remained in power as conference chair after a secret-ballot bid to remove her failed in a 145-61 vote, though she already faces a primary challenger for Wyoming’s sole House seat. Trump is also reportedly considering ways to get “revenge” on Cheney and other Republicans who backed his impeachment. The outrage over the congresswoman’s vote is representative of a broader schism within the GOP between Trump loyalists and those critical of the former president, which has even spurred support for factions splitting off to form their own third party. National Republican Senatorial Committee chair Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) denounced the Republican infighting in a statement Tuesday, saying the GOP doesn’t “have time for” it now that Democrats control both Congress and the White House. “Now is not the time. Save it for another day,” Scott said. “The Republican Civil War is now cancelled.”

Tangent

Cheney’s criticism of Trump’s campaign to challenge the election results stands in stark contrast to a number of her Republican colleagues, who have continued to insinuate there were issues with the election despite a lack of evidence. House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) refused to say the election was legitimate on ABC Sunday, for instance, claiming that while President Joe Biden was the “legitimate president” based on the electors, “there were a few states that did not follow their state laws”—a GOP argument that courts have debunked.