Mitch McConnell
Photographer: Sarah Silbiger / Bloomberg
Photographer: Sarah Silbiger / Bloomberg
GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell took the rare step of addressing internal conflict between House Republicans, praising Representative Liz Cheney for her “deep convictions” and “courage” as she faces attacks from the former’s allies. president Donald Trump.
Cheney, the third rank of House GOP leader, has come under fire for her vote to impeach the former president, as well as her harsh criticism of his words and actions.
“Liz Cheney is a leader with deep convictions and the courage to act on them,” McConnell said in a statement. “She is an important leader in our party and in our country. I am grateful to her for her service and look forward to continuing to work with her on the crucial issues facing our nation. “
McConnell’s support for Cheney is a clear sign of the fight within the Republican Party over how much influence Trump will continue to exert even after he lost the White House to Democrat Joe Biden and the GOP lost control of the Senate. Trump’s actions in stirring up the mob that stormed the Capitol last month, for which he was impeached for an unprecedented second time by the U.S. House, has divided Republicans in a way that few of the political battles of the past four years. did.
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It comes before a meeting scheduled for Wednesday of House Republicans convened by their leader, Kevin McCarthy. Several lawmakers and aides said Cheney’s role as Republican conference chairman will certainly emerge.
Some members, including Ohio Representative Jim Jordan and Andy Biggs, of Arizona, have called for Cheney to be removed from her leadership position. Last week, Florida Representative Matt Gaetz, who is closely associated with Trump, went to Cheney’s home state of Wyoming for a rally in which she denounced her. Trump’s oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., called by phone at the event in Cheyenne.
But it’s not clear whether enough Republicans would vote to oust Cheney.
McCarthy has said that while he still supports her, she needs to respond to the conference. Any vote to remove her would be private and no one on either side of the dispute would know who was doing what.
‘Never been a greater betrayal’
Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, was the most senior Republican to call for Trump’s resignation, saying there has “never been a greater betrayal by a president of the United States. United States of office and oath to the constitution. “
Photographer: Al Drago / Bloomberg
Cheney voted against Trump’s impeachment in late 2019, but has had other public breaks with the now-former president and his Republican supporters of the House before last month’s impeachment vote. Those include disagreements over foreign policy, how Trump dealt with the coronavirus pandemic, and her support of a primary challenger to Republican Representative Tom Massie from Kentucky.
Cheney’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on McConnell’s comments.
Some of the nine other House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump have also come under pressure from within the party and from GOP officials in their home state. Both she and Cheney could face primary challenges.
McConnell also released a statement on another issue McCarthy and House Republicans are confronting: the provocative views of Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene. House Democrats threaten to force a vote to strip Greene of her committee duties if Republicans don’t want to discipline her.
While not specifically mentioning her, McConnell said, “Loony lies and conspiracy theories are cancer for the Republican Party and our country.”