Liz Cheney has slammed ousted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy for ‘elevating white supremacists and anti-Semites’ as part of his leadership.
Cheney was defeated in a primary in 2022 by Harriet Hageman in a race that was heavily influenced by her criticism of Donald Trump.
The daughter of ex-Vice President Dick Cheney said McCarthy has muddled the party by following Trump’s lead.
‘I wish that it were surprising,’ she told CNN. ‘You know, what we’ve seen is a result of really the leadership decisions that Kevin McCarthy made back after the 2020 election and certainly after January 6.’
‘And, you know, looking the other way in the face of the kind of assault on our democracy that we’ve seen from Donald Trump and his allies in the House.’
Former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney slammed ousted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy Sunday for ‘elevating white supremacists and anti-Semites’ as part of his leadership
McCarthy was eventually taken out of power and the House of Representatives has been led by a temporary speaker for weeks with an ability to find a new leader.
While she didn’t name any particular GOP members as anti-Semites, she did list would-be Speaker replacement Jim Jordan – who has failed several times to garner the votes to win the job – for fermenting it.
‘Looking the other way in the face of the kind of assault on our democracy that we’ve seen from Donald Trump and his allies in the House, including Jim Jordan; elevating those members, frankly, some of whom are white supremacists, some of whom are antisemitic,’ she said.
Cheney also told CBS News Sunday that she hadn’t ruled out a potential run for president in 2024 and told CNN’s Jake Tapper that it could not be Trump, regardless.
‘He cannot be the next president,’ she said. ‘If he is, all of the things that he attempted to do but was stopped from doing by responsible people around him at the Department of Justice, at the White House Counsel’s office, he will do. There will be no guardrails and everyone has been warned.’
She called Trump ‘the single most dangerous threat we face’ as a nation.
Cheney is staunchly anti-Trump and was one of only two Republicans who served on the select committee investigating the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack. She has repeatedly spoken out against the former president – both when he was in office and after vacating.
In June, the ex-lawmaker blamed American voters for electing Trump and said it’s up to the federal electorate to bring in ‘more serious’ people to office in future elections.
Cheney was defeated in a primary in 2022 by Harriet Hageman in a race that was heavily influenced by Cheney’s criticism of former President Donald Trump from her party’s right flank
While she didn’t name any particular GOP members as anti-Semites, she did list would-be Speaker replacement Jim Jordan – who has failed several times to garner the votes to win the job – for fermenting it
‘Looking the other way in the face of the kind of assault on our democracy that we’ve seen from Donald Trump and his allies in the House, including Jim Jordan (pictured center); elevating those members, frankly, some of whom are white supremacists, some of whom are antisemitic,’ Cheney said
I don’t look at it through the lens of, you know, is this what I should do or what I shouldn’t do,’ Cheney said Monday at an event with the 92nd Street Y New York Global Center for Culture and Arts when asked about making a bid.
‘I look at it through the lens of, how do we elect serious people? And I think electing serious people can’t be partisan,’ she added.
‘What we’ve done in our politics is create a situation where we’re electing idiots.’
Cheney joined nine other lawmakers after the January 6 Capitol attack to vote for Trump’s second impeachment.
She has since been a very vocal critic of the former president, which led Cheney to lose her at-large House seat in Congress representing deep red Trump country in Wyoming.
Her main priority since leaving office has been to block Trump from ever again earning a position of power within government.