Rep. Liz Cheney is getting lavished with praise by Democrats after she became one of 10 House Republicans who bucked their party and voted to impeach President Trump.
Cheney, daughter of conservative Vice President and Iraq War architect Dick Cheney, was the highest-ranking Republican to come out against Trump in the House when she released a statement on the eve of the vote, calling his role in the Capitol riot last week a “betrayal” of the Constitution and the presidential oath of office.
“The President of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack. Everything that followed was his doing. None of this would have happened without the President,” Cheney (R-Wyo.) said in the statement.
During the debate on the article of impeachment against Trump charging him with “incitement of insurrection,” Democrats name-dropped her 18 times.
Cheney did not speak during the House hearing.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) invoked the weight of her decision to stand against Trump as reason to impeach the president.
“That is not some irresponsible, new member of the Congress,” Hoyer said during his speech on the House floor. “This is the daughter of the former Republican whip and former vice president. She knows of what she speaks.”
“This attack was not from abroad. It was, as Liz Cheney said, summoned, assembled and inflamed by the president of the United States of America,” he said, echoing her statement.
The Republican support for Trump’s impeachment stood in stark contrast to his impeachment in the House in December 2019, when not one GOP member broke ranks.
Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), chair of the House Rules Committee, asked to have Cheney’s statement be included in the Congressional Record.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) cited her as an example of how to “come together.”
“Cheney says there’s never been a greater betrayal by a president of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution,” he said. “Read Ms. Cheney’s statement. Let’s come together and impeach the president for this high crime against the republic. We don’t have a minute to spare. He is a clear and present danger to the people.”
But while she was getting praise from Democrats, some of her Republican colleagues blasted her for making the statement that became fodder for Democrats.
Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.) told Fox News that she was not speaking for the majority.
“Her decision to impeach the president does not represent the majority of our conference. It has only served to become a Democrat talking point to be used against our party during this impeachment debate,” Good said. “Leadership is a privilege and carries great responsibility. I believe that privilege has been violated, and I am calling for her to step down as Republican Conference chair.”
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) joined with other GOP House members to call for her to be stripped of her leadership role.
“I think she’s totally wrong,” Jordan told reporters Wednesday. “I think there should be a conference and have a second vote on that.”
Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), head of the House Freedom Caucus, is circulating a petition among the 44-person conservative bloc calling on Cheney to resign as chair of the House Republican Conference.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) pushed back at fellow Republican Congressman Dan Crenshaw, who tweeted in defense of Cheney, saying she showed “a hell of a lot more backbone than most.”
“With all due respect to Rep. Crenshaw, this is a minority view within the minority party,” Gaetz said in a post in response.
Cheney has remained defiant, proclaiming, “I’m not going anywhere.”