Cheney, a staunch conservative, received harsh criticism from Trump supporters for her vote to impeach the former populist president, who faces an impeachment trial in the Senate next week.
Congressman Matt Gaetz, from Florida, went to Wyoming to hold an anti-Cheney demonstration on January 28, attacking it with a plethora of insults. But minority leader in the House, Kevin McCarthy, defended her at the closed-door meeting before the Republican caucus vote.
Cheney defended his vote in a statement after the state party’s censorship.
“I am honored to represent the people of Wyoming in Congress and I will always fight for the issues that matter most to our state. The main one is the defense of our Constitution and the freedoms it guarantees,” said Cheney.
“My vote for impeachment was compelled by the oath I took to the Constitution. Wyoming citizens know that this oath does not bow or give in to politics or partisanship. I will always fight for Wyoming values and defend our Western lifestyle,” she added.
Cheney is not the only Republican to be criticized for insufficiently supporting Trump in the eyes of a state party.
Arizona Republicans censored Governor Doug Ducey and former Senator Jeff Flake, as well as Cindy McCain, Senator John McCain’s widow, on January 23.
Ducey opposed Trump’s attempt to subvert election results and Flake and McCain endorsed Joe Biden for president instead of the Republican incumbent.
Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska also faces potential censorship from his state party’s central committee after he refused to support Trump’s candidacy to contest election results. He responded to the state party committee with an exciting video.
“Politics is not about a guy’s weird worship,” said Sasse. “The party can eliminate Trump’s skeptics. But I would like to convince you that this civic cancer is not only for the nation, but also terrible for our party. “
The vote to censor Cheney also comes as the Republican Party struggles with its identity in a post-Trump political reality. McCarthy refused to punish Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene – who expressed racist, Islamophobic and anti-Semitic views and promoted QAnon conspiracy theories – before Democrats voted to expel her from her committee duties.
Following Cheney’s vote to impeach Trump on charges of inciting the Capitol insurrection on January 6, the Wyoming Republican Party said it had never heard so much counterattack from other Republicans. She is now facing a major pro-Trump challenge.
“The consensus is clear that those arriving at the party strongly disagree with Mr Cheney’s decision and actions,” the party wrote in a statement on January 13.
After Trump’s impeachment, the president of the state party that supported Trump, Frank Eathorne, suggested separating from the union.
Cheney attacked Trump in a statement explaining his decision to vote for Trump’s impeachment.
“The President of the United States summoned this mob, gathered the mob and lit the flame for that attack. Everything that followed was your work. None of this would have happened without the president, ”wrote Cheney on January 12.