A staunch conservative, Cheney has been heavily criticized by Trump loyalists for her vote to impeach the populist former president, who is facing a Senate impeachment trial early next week.
Florida Representative Matt Gaetz went to Wyoming to hold an anti-Cheney rally on Jan. 28, insulting her with a plethora of insults. But House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy defended her behind closed doors at the meeting ahead of the Republican caucus vote.
Cheney defended her vote in a statement following the state party’s disapproval.
“I am honored to represent the people of Wyoming in Congress and will always fight for the issues that are most important to our state. Chief among them is the defense of our Constitution and the freedoms it guarantees,” Cheney said.
“My vote for impeachment was forced by the oath I swore to the Constitution. The citizens of Wyoming know that this oath does not bow or yield to politics or partiality. I will always fight for Wyoming’s values and stand up for our Western way of life, ”she added.
Cheney isn’t the only Republican to come under fire for insufficiently supporting Trump in the eyes of a state party.
Republicans in Arizona on Jan. 23 sentenced Governor Doug Ducey and former Senator Jeff Flake, as well as Cindy McCain, the widow of Senator John McCain.
Ducey opposed Trump’s bid to undermine election results, and Flake and McCain backed Joe Biden as president rather than the incumbent Republican party.
Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse is also facing possible disapproval from his state party’s central committee after refusing to back Trump’s bid to challenge the election results. He responded to the state party committee with a thrilling video.
“Politics isn’t about one guy’s weird worship,” Sasse said. The party can purge Trump skeptics. But I’d like to convince you that not only is that civilian cancer for the nation, it’s just awful for our party. “
The vote to disapprove Cheney also comes as the GOP grapples with his identity in a post-Trump political reality. McCarthy refused to allow Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene – who has voiced racist, Islamophobic and anti-Semitic views and promoted QAnon conspiracy theories – before Democrats voted to kick her off her committee duties.
Following Cheney’s vote to impeach Trump on charges of instigating the January 6 Capitol uprising, the Wyoming Republican Party said it had never heard so much backlash from fellow Republicans. She now faces a pro-Trump primary challenger.
“The consensus is clear that those who contact the party strongly disagree with Representative Cheney’s decision and actions,” the party wrote in a statement on Jan. 13.
After Trump was impeached, Trump-supporting state party chairman Frank Eathorne proposed seceding from the union.
Cheney tore into Trump in a statement explaining her decision to vote to impeach Trump.
“The President of the United States called this crowd together, gathered the crowd and lit the flame of this attack. All that followed was his work. None of this would have happened without the president. Cheney wrote on January 12.