On Monday, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell was the last Republican to give her a boost, saying in a statement to CNN that she had “the courage” to act on her convictions following her voting for Trump’s impeachment last month on a charge he incited the deadly uprising that sacked the Capitol on January 6.
“Liz Cheney is a leader with deep convictions and the courage to act on them,” said McConnell. “She is an important leader in our party and in our nation. I am grateful for her service and look forward to continuing to work with her on the crucial issues facing our nation.”
The statement comes as a cross-section of Republican lawmakers – from the top Republicans in the Senate leadership, such as Wyoming Republican Senator John Barrasso to some conservative House Freedom Caucus members, such as Congressman Chip Roy of Texas – publicly defended Cheney in the face of the attack by Trump supporters eager to see her defeated. Last week, Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida, a close ally of Trump, traveled to Wyoming to demonstrate against Cheney, with the eldest son of the former president, Donald Trump Jr., calling the event and demanding that she be defeated next year’s primaries.
At Capitol Hill, some Trump supporters are trying to expel her from her leadership, although it is far from clear that they have a majority at the Republican House conference to succeed in that quest. Cheney’s vote for Trump’s impeachment, along with the votes of nine other House Republicans, should be a topic of conversation when the Republican Party meets behind closed doors on Wednesday. Some Republicans who supported Trump’s impeachment have already been the target of intense reaction at home, including South Carolina MP Tom Rice, who was censored by his state party over the weekend.
McConnell, who voted last week with 44 of his Republican colleagues in the Senate to keep alive the effort to reject the Senate’s impeachment trial on constitutional grounds, privately told associates that he believes Trump has committed impeachable crimes, according to sources familiar with the conversations.
When asked by CNN last week whether he believes Trump’s actions before the riot were objectionable conduct, McConnell avoided the issue – and later said he was a judge and would evaluate the arguments. But unlike House Republicans, most Senate Republicans are distancing themselves from Trump’s actions, although they are signaling that they will vote for absolution based on the fact that they believe the Senate should not try a former president.
McConnell’s statement in defense of Cheney is more of a total defense than that offered by Republican House leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California, who said he supports Cheney but said she would have to respond to the conference by her vote.
“Look, I support you, but I also have concerns,” McCarthy said last month, days before heading to South Florida to visit the former president and claiming that the two were united in an attempt to retake the House next year. .
McConnell hasn’t spoken to Trump since December 15.
This is a last-minute story and will be updated.
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