Rep. Liz Cheney lost her post in the Republican House leadership following the public rejection of former President Donald Trump.
The Republican vote was cast behind closed doors. There’s no way of knowing who supported or stood against Cheney.
She then said she was not leaving the Republican party despite her removal from the House.
In an interview with NBC’s Today Show, Cheney said she would run for reelection in 2022. She said she can “absolutely” win despite having fervent opposition within the House.
“I’m not leaving the party,” Cheney said when prompted by anchor Savannah Guthrie. In regard to Trump supporters’ opposition, she said “Bring it on.”
“As I said, if they think that they’re going to come into Wyoming and make the argument that the people of Wyoming should vote for someone who is loyal to Donald Trump over somebody who is loyal to the Constitution, I welcome that debate,” said Cheney.
“I think you’ve watched over the course of the last several months the former president get more aggressive, more vocal, pushing the lie,” Cheney said.
“I think that’s a really important thing to understand. This isn’t about looking backward, this is about the real-time current potential damage that he’s doing, that he continues to do.”
New York Rep. Elise Stefanik will fill Cheney’s spot. Stefanik has a shorter career and a less conservative track record than Cheney, but she’s a prominent Trump supporter.
Stefanik also has the support of Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. and Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La.
“Elise is not afraid to stand up and fight back against President Biden’s radical agenda and the left-wing media mob. Even more importantly she’s a proven winner and an expert at flipping districts from blue to red,” tweeted Donald Trump Jr. “She would be a great House GOP Conference Chair.”
Cheney and the ‘Big Lie’
Cheney had repeatedly called out Donald Trump for the “big lie,” which refers to the claims Trump has made over losing the 2020 elections.
“We cannot let the former president drag us backward and make us complicit in his efforts to unravel our democracy,” said Cheney in a House declaration.
“Down that path lies our destruction, and potentially the destruction of our country.”
CNN reports that Cheney was booed by members of the House following these statements.
Cheney was one out of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump following the riots that took place in the Capitol on January 6th.
