Republican Liz Cheney causes GOP infighting over Trump critiques
Sources in the room say that Rep. Jim Jordan chastised the congresswoman for her recent rebukes of the president
On Tuesday, several members of the House Freedom Caucus launched an attack against their third-highest ranking member, Liz Cheney.
The congresswoman conjured the wrath of her colleagues for openly critiquing the president.
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Rep. Cheney has held her seat in the House since 2017. She was elected to the role in 2016 and is up for re-election. She is the elder daughter of former vice-president, Dick Cheney.
The closed-door infighting was first reported yesterday by POLITICO.
According to the report, Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, a staunch Trump supporter, accused Cheney of breaking with President Donald Trump on a number of issues.
Sources in the room told the news outlet that Jordan chastised Cheney for her recent rebukes of the president. She has stood against the president on the issue of wearing masks to combat the spread of the coronavirus. In late June, she tweeted a photo of her father in a mask with the hashtag, #realmenwearmasks, a hashtag that had been used by Democratic House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi.
Another point of contention was Cheney’s criticism of the president for tweeting a conspiracy theory about a young woman who had died working on the campaign of Joe Scarborough.
Cheney said, “He’s the commander in chief of this nation. And it’s causing great pain to the family of the young woman who died.”
These breaks with Trump boiled over during Tuesday’s meeting. Jordan, Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona, and Florida representative Matt Gaetz all criticized Cheney at the controversial gathering.
Biggs reportedly even told Cheney that if someone has a problem with Trump, they should keep it to themselves.
After the meeting, Gaetz sent a series of tweets directed at Cheney calling for her to step down from her role as Republican Conference Chair. “Liz Cheney has worked behind the scenes (and now in public) against @realDonaldTrump and his agenda.”
Gaetz continued, “House Republicans deserve better as our Conference Chair. Liz Cheney should step down or be removed. #MAGA”
Cheney also garnered backlash from Donald Trump, Jr. who tweeted, “We already have one Mitt Romney, we don’t need another.”
Washington Post reporter, Rachel Bade, tweeted that Cheney replied, “Donald Trump, Jr. is not a member of the House Republican Conference.”
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CNN‘s Editor-at-Large, Chris Cillizza, said that the squabble between Cheney and the House Freedom Caucus Republicans could be an indicator of what the GOP could look like after Trump’s presidency ends with a new fracture in the party made up of supporters and public non-supporters.
He contends, “A gang-up on a member of GOP leadership doesn’t just happen. Particularly, not when the group of members who went after Cheney includes some of the most high-profile members of the House Freedom Caucus, which also doubles as a bloc of President Donald Trump’s most loyal allies.”
“Make no mistake: This was a concerted act to force Cheney back into line with Trump or, at the very least, to know he (and they) were watching her very, very closely.”
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