Kevin McCarthy, the House Minority Leader, is throwing his support behind a challenger seeking to remove Rep. Liz Cheney.
Cheney was one of ten Republican members of the House who voted in favor of impeaching erstwhile President Trump after the January 6 incident. Cheney is also a member of the committee established by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to investigate the events of January 6.
McCarthy told The Federalist that Harriet Hageman, who now has ex-President Trump’s support, will strive to represent the Wyoming people.
House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy has endorsed a primary challenger to Rep. Liz Cheney. https://t.co/LQl3c3h2xh
— Newsmax (@newsmax) February 18, 2022
“After spending some time with Harriet, it’s clear she would always listen to and emphasize the concerns of her local communities and is committed to resolving our country’s most pressing issues,” McCarthy told the publication.
Endorsements
McCarthy’s endorsement underscores Cheney’s, as well as other Republican leaders’, growing hostility. Along with being ousted as chair of the House Republican Conference last year, Cheney was castigated by her state party and the Republican National Committee.
Additionally, voters tend to prefer a Cheney alternative. In a Wyoming state canvass conducted last month, Hageman defeated Cheney 59 to 6.
In his endorsement statement for Hageman, a reference to her strong foreign policy positions, Trump attacked Cheney as “disloyal” and a “warmonger.”
“I wholeheartedly endorse Republican House nominee Harriet Hageman of Wyoming, who is fighting against warmonger and treacherous Republican Liz Cheney,” Trump said.
“Harriet is a fourth-generation Wyoming native, an extremely successful attorney, and has the backing of a United States senator, Wyoming’s own Cynthia Lummis.”
“Harriet Hageman cherishes the Great State of Wyoming, is a stalwart supporter of the Second Amendment, a strong supporter of our military and veterans, and will work for election integrity and energy security which President Biden has so far abandoned.”
Let’s go @GOPLeader! Liz Cheney is a complete and utter disgrace. What she is doing to INNOCENT people along with the rest of the communist clowns on the J6 “committee” is sick & wrong!
She must go. https://t.co/zVmkrHkqJP
— Alex Bruesewitz (@alexbruesewitz) February 17, 2022
“In contrast to RINO Liz Cheney, Harriet is 100% committed to America First,” he concluded. “Harriet has my complete and total support in her bid to succeed Liz Cheney, the Democrats’ leading source of sound bites. Make America Great Again!”
The January 6 Committee
McCarthy requested that Reps. Jim Banks (R-IN) and Jim Jordan (R-OH) sit as Republican members when Pelosi established her committee on January 6.
Pelosi, nevertheless, rejected both nominees, and Cheney promised the investigation would remain apolitical.
“I am completely sure that we will have a neutral investigation that will look into the facts and will follow them wherever they go,” Cheney told reporters.
“Three members were recommended by the Minority Leader, and the Speaker did not protest. She complained about two members. The Minority Leader and those two members’ rhetoric has been disgusting.”
“This must be a fact-based investigation, and any suggestion that it has become politicized is truly unbecoming of the position that we all hold and of our Republic,” she continued. “I concur with the Speaker’s decision.”
