House Conservatives Launch Revolt Against Liz Cheney, Draw High-Profile GOP Support
House conservatives launched a revolt against Republican Conference Chair Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) during a conference on Tuesday, drawing the support of Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Donald Trump Jr.
House Freedom Caucus members, and other conservatives, launched attacks at Cheney for contradicting President Donald Trump, supporting Dr. Anthony Fauci, and backing Rep. Thomas Massie's (R-KY) primary candidate.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) — a Freedom Caucus co-founder, one of Trump's top allies in the House, and the House Judiciary Committee ranking member — called out Cheney for the several times she opposed Trump, according to Politico.
Jordan said that Cheney's rebukes of Trump, which includes the president's handling of the coronavirus outbreak, his Twitter account, and his plans to withdraw from Afghanistan, do not help House Republicans.
Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), the House Freedom Caucus chairman, also accused Cheney of undermining the president's ability to win back the House and charged that she should keep her criticisms of the president private.
"Dick Cheney says WEAR A MASK. #realmenwearmasks," Cheney wrote, tweeting a picture of former Vice President Dick Cheney, using the same phrase that Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) used to attack the president.
"I look forward to hearing your comments about being a team player when we're back in the majority," Cheney said to Jordan.
One House GOP senior staffer told Breitbart News in a comment that, "The rank-and-file House Republicans are attempting to get leadership that actually reflects their voters on issues."
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) charged that Cheney should step down as the House Republican Conference chair.
"Liz Cheney has worked behind the scenes (and now in public) against @realDonaldTrump and his agenda. House Republicans deserve better as our Conference Chair," Gaetz wrote. "Liz Cheney should step down or be removed."
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) and Biggs complained to Cheney that she supported Massie's primary opponent.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), who faces a tough reelection this year, noted that his Democrat opponent retweeted Cheney's praises of Fauci.
The House Republicans' backlash against Cheney garnered support from top Republicans such as Paul and Donald Trump Jr., the president's son.
"We already have one Mitt Romney, we don't need another… we also don't need the endless wars she advocates for," Trump Jr. wrote.
"We should all join @realDonaldTrump in advocating to stop our endless wars. Liz Cheney not only wants to stay forever, she's leading the fight to try to stop him from leaving. Unacceptable," Paul wrote in a tweet.
Cheney also called Trump's recently planned withdrawal of troops from Germany "dangerously misguided."
Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) also lashed out at Cheney for her hawkish foreign policy. Norman also brought up the Bush administration, to which Cheney said, "I'm not a Bush," although, she is the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney.
House conservatives such as Massie, Gaetz, and Biggs introduced an amendment to remove Cheney's measure in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would tie the president's hands on withdrawing from Afghanistan.
In an interview with Breitbart News Tonight host Rebecca Mansour, Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN), a military veteran who served in Afghanistan, called Cheney's amendment "egregious" and "exactly the opposite of what we should do."