Former Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney blasted Republican state lawmakers Sunday over the upheaval in the speakership — accusing Rep. Kevin McCarthy nurtured the nest of extremism that led to the recent chaos.
“What we’re seeing is the result of leadership decisions made by Kevin McCarthy after the 2020 election and certainly after January 6,” Cheney, a Republican, said of the ousted House speaker during an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“Looking the other way in the face of the kind of attacks on our democracy that we’ve seen from Donald Trump and his allies in the House, including Jim Jordan; lifting up those members, frankly, some of it is white supremacist, some of it is antisemitic,” he said.
The political scion did not say which House Republicans he believed harbored white supremacist or antisemitic sympathies.
Cheney served in the lower house from 2017 until January 2023 when he was demoted in the lower house by Rep. Harriet Hageman.
He insisted that he plans to avoid endorsing GOP speaker candidates to avoid damaging their chances.
Liz Cheney laments the current state of the GOP.Getty Images
“Listen to what you’re saying, that’s crazy!” CNN host Jake Tapper interjected after Cheney talked about the damage his support could do. “You are very conservative. More than any House Republican leadership. You are more conservative than the woman who replaced you — Elise Stefanik — you are not crazy and anti-democratic!”
“I think that’s a testament to where we are as a country today,” Cheney replied. “And we need to have a party that backs that conservative policy and accepts the constitution. That is not what the Republican party is doing today.”
Cheney previously welcomed McCarthy’s ouster as speaker and urged his former colleague to contest Speaker Jim Jordan’s bid.
The House of Representatives has been paralyzed and unable to move important legislation since McCarthy, a California Republican, was ousted on Oct. 3.
Republicans in the lower house have been scrambling to replace McCarthy and elect a new speaker. Last week, Jordan, Ohio, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, did not count, following several failed attempts to grab the gavel and vote of a private GOP caucus.
During his appearance on CNN on Sunday, Cheney lamented how GOP hardliners have been able to hijack the Republican conference.
“They have become part of our politics in a way they certainly shouldn’t,” he said. “The acceptance of such violence is completely inappropriate and dangerous in our politics.”
Liz Cheney has been one of the most vocal critics of former President Donald Trump in the House.REUTERS
The daughter of former vice president Dick Cheney, she quickly rose through the ranks of the House GOP during her tenure in Congress, rising to the No. 3 chairman of the House Republican Conference when his party was in the minority.
But his outspoken disdain for former President Donald Trump and his stint as vice chairman of the Select Committee on the January 6, 2021 Capitol riots soured Republican colleagues on him. He was appointed from House GOP leadership position No. 3 in May 2021.
Top of mind for Cheney with his frustration with the GOP is Trump, the 2024 Republican front-runner.
Cheney took issue with Trump’s criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and suggested that Iran-backed Hezbollah was “very smart.”
“They were horrible comments,” he said Sunday. “It’s just the latest example of why Donald Trump is unfit to be president of the United States.”
Kevin McCarthy became the first Speaker of the House to be ousted in US history on Oct. 3. AP
Interspersed with his harsh criticism of the GOP, Cheney also took some shots at the Biden administration, arguing that the decision to withdraw from Afghanistan “as he did” was the biggest mistake the US made in its response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
He also ripped President Biden’s Iran policy.
“The administration needs to make some fundamental changes regarding their Iran policy,” he said. “We need to really enforce the sanctions regarding Iran’s oil exports. We need to put the Houthis back on the terrorist list.”
Liz Cheney condemned the anti-Israeli rallies taking place across the country and around the world.REUTERS Palestinians wave their national flag and celebrate with a destroyed Israeli tank at the Gaza Strip fence east of Khan Younis.AP
Cheney also denounced the rise of “anti-Semitic” and “anti-Israel” sentiment across the country, particularly on college campuses.
“It’s outrageous, it’s dangerous, it needs to stop,” he said. “Israel must take whatever action they need to take to defend themselves. And the United States should not be in the business of telling them to stop, to slow down — they have to defend themselves.”
A protester displays a swastika at a pro-Palestinian rally in New York City on Oct. 8. Twitter/@StuartMeissner
Cheney has plans to release a book detailing what he believes has happened with the GOP.
He also did not rule out running for the presidency in 2024.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
