House Republicans oust Liz Cheney for rejecting Donald Trump’s ‘big lie’
- A defiant Cheney told reporters that she would lead the fight to bring her party back to ‘fundamental principles of conservatism’
- The action signalled that Trump has solidified his hold over House Republicans
US House of Representatives Republicans on Wednesday removed Liz Cheney from their leadership, punishing her for rejecting what she called former President Donald Trump’s “big lie” that last year’s election was stolen from him through election fraud.
After her ousting as the No 3 House Republican was carried out in mere minutes in a closed-door meeting, a defiant Cheney told reporters that she would lead the fight to bring her party back to “fundamental principles of conservatism.”
I will do everything I can to ensure that the former president never again gets anywhere near the Oval Office.
“We must go forward based on truth. We cannot both embrace the big lie and embrace the Constitution,” Cheney said.
She also vowed to prevent Trump from ever regaining the presidency, telling reporters: “I will do everything I can to ensure that the former president never again gets anywhere near the Oval Office.”
The Wyoming congresswoman, daughter of former Vice-President Dick Cheney, is a politician with impeccable conservative credentials. She one of 10 House Republicans who voted with the Democrats in January when the House impeached Trump on a charge of inciting insurrection. Senate Republicans provided the votes in the following month to prevent Trump from being barred from holding future public office.
Trump’s January impeachment – his second – focused on an incendiary Jan. 6 speech in which he urged his followers to “fight” his election defeat, which he claimed falsely was the result of widespread fraud. A pro-Trump mob then stormed the US Capitol building, an attack that left five dead.
During Trump’s time as president, Republicans lost their majorities in the House and Senate and he lost the White House.