Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) doubled down on her criticism of former President Donald Trump on Sunday and argued his supporters are “misled.”
The story: Cheney appeared on Fox News on Sunday for an interview with host Chris Wallace. During their conversation, the Wyoming Republican again condemned the former president over his claims of election fraud and weighed in on his supporters after she was pressed by the “Fox News Sunday” host.
What she said: During the interview, Cheney blasted Trump for claiming that the election was stolen from him, referring to the “big lie,” and said his statements are eroding the public’s trust in the election process.
Wallace asked the Republican why “alienate” the millions of Americans who support Trump by continuing to focus her criticism on him.
In response, Cheney described the former president as “a real danger” and claimed his supporters are “misled” and “betrayed.”
“Former President Trump continues to be a real danger. What he is doing and what he is saying, his claims, his refusal to accept decisions by the courts, his claims…that somehow this election was stolen. What he is doing is he is causing people to believe that they can’t count on our electoral process to actually convey the will of the people,” Cheney began.
“We have to be a nation of laws. If you reject the rulings of the courts, if you work against the rulings of the courts, then you really are at war with the Constitution,” she continued. “He is a continuing danger to our system.”
“Those millions of people that you mention who supported the president have been misled. They’ve been betrayed. And certainly, as we see his continued action to attack our democracy, his continued refusal to accept the results of the last election, you see that ongoing danger,” Cheney said.
Not a first: Cheney also spoke to Fox News’s Bret Baier, who pointed out to the lawmaker that more voters in her home state have voted for the former president than her.
“So, if you look at the numbers in Wyoming, 70% of Wyoming voted for President Trump, actually more people voted for President Trump than voted for you, a higher percentage voted for President Trump,” Baier told Cheney last week.
Cheney said Baier is “wrong” and that she is not “disputing the numbers, but … your characterization of what I’m doing.”
How we got here: The interview came after Republicans in the House ousted Cheney from her leadership position in the party as the No. 3 Republican in the lower chamber. The GOP cited her criticism of the former president over election claims and the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, saying her remarks are a distraction from the Republican Party’s goal to retake the House in the next election.
House Republicans later voted to elect Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) to replace Cheney as chair of the GOP conference.
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