Today is a bit brighter than the others. Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) has been removed from her leadership post. There were no vote tallies to report. They didn’t need them. It was done by voice vote. Ouch. Cheney seemed resigned to her fate for days, not even making the necessary calls to cobble together supporters to keep her position. And of course, Donald Trump had a few things to say about Lizzy’s purging:
The Republicans in the House of Representatives have a great opportunity today to rid themselves of a poor leader, a major Democrat talking point, a warmonger, and a person with absolutely no personality or heart. As a representative of the Great State of Wyoming, Liz Cheney is bad for our Country and bad for herself. Almost everyone in the Republican Party, including 90% of Wyoming, looks forward to her ouster—and that includes me!
CHENEY: "I will do everything I can to ensure that the former president never again gets anywhere near the Oval Office."
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) May 12, 2021
pic.twitter.com/mGq6TaOQRT
Look, you cannot mount a defense when the two other top Republicans, Reps. Steve Scalise (R-LA) and Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), endorsed a leadership change. It’s over. Now, the search for her replacement begins. I know Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) was putting out feelers. She has been backed by both Scalise and McCarthy, but something tells me she isn’t a consensus choice. She did vote against the Trump tax cuts in 2017, but any Republican in the northeast did. They had to vote against the SALT caps, but she made up for it with her solid defense of Trump during the impeachment fiasco.
Liz eventually voted with Democrats to impeach Trump in their second effort, but this removal has always been about her failure to do her job. She survived the vote to remove her based on her siding with Democrats. This was about her being bad at raising money and focusing on bashing Trump instead of getting her people elected. She was a distraction. She spits in the face of the party base, which you don’t do ahead of a key midterm election. And she still vows to fight Trump and ensure he’s never elected president again.
Perhaps the endorsement by Pelosi, OJ Simpson, and The Washington Post was a bad idea. pic.twitter.com/FqW9wYlbQL
— Sebastian Gorka DrG (@SebGorka) May 12, 2021
GOP House lawmakers removed Cheney from leadership by a voice vote during a closed-door meeting. Afterward, Cheney remained defiant. “I will do everything I can to ensure that the former president never again gets anywhere near the Oval Office,” she said. https://t.co/dRdCRJbaw5
— The Associated Press (@AP) May 12, 2021
The more Democrats and liberals come out defending Liz Cheney this morning the more the decision to kick her out of GOP leadership makes sense.
— ForAmerica (@ForAmerica) May 12, 2021
More people voted for Trump in Wyoming than her — and she seems to be gunning for that primary challenge. The goal for us now is to ensure she loses it next year.