House Republicans aren’t fucking around: Insult former President Trump at your own political peril. Congresswoman Liz Cheney found out the hard way Wednesday when she was officially ousted from her position as the GOP House Leadership Chair. The New York Times reports that, shortly before being removed from leadership, Cheney gave a “defiant” final speech, which was met with boos from her colleagues.
“The nation needs a strong Republican party, the nation needs a party that is based upon fundamental principles of conservatism,” Cheney told reporters following a voice vote among House Republicans. “I am committed and dedicated to ensuring that that’s how this party goes forward, and I plan to lead the fight to do that.”
She added, “I will do everything I can to ensure that the former president never again gets anywhere near the Oval Office. We have seen the danger that he continues to provoke with his language, we have seen his lack of commitment and dedication to the Constitution, and I think it’s very important that we make sure—whomever we elect—is somebody who will be faithful to the Constitution.”
This is the result of a months-long campaign by House Republicans after Cheney decried Trump’s false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him as the falsehoods they are. She also supported his second impeachment following the January 6 Capitol Riot, in which Trump supporters laid seige to the U.S. Capitol complex in retaliation to Trump’s election loss. Trump was accused of inciting the riot, giving a speech on the National Mall moments prior, telling his supporters “if you don’t fight like hell you’re not going to have a country anymore.” They certainly fought like hell: hundreds were injured and five died.
She and 10 other House Republicans voted in favor of impeachment. Cheney defended her position, saying, “The extent to which, following January 6, I don’t believe that he should be playing a role in the future of the party or the country.”
But it may soon be Cheney who will no longer play a role in the future of the Republican party. Despite being a staunch conservative and an absolute hawk, Cheney’s insistence that the GOP should not be the party of Trump may cost her her political career. A slew of potential challengers are coming for her seat—representing Wyoming’s sole Congressional district—and even though she has thus far outraised them, the Wyoming’s 2022 Republican primary is a year away. There’s still time for the right to continue to paint Cheney as a fake Republican and a traitor to Trumpism.
Cheney held the third most powerful Republican in the House. She was also the only woman in a leadership role. But it looks as though they’ll just replace her with another woman—a woman who knows how to follow the party line.