Conservative publication slams efforts to oust Liz Cheney from leadership role as a ‘sad commentary on the state of the House GOP’

In 2021, the arch-conservative Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming has made it abundantly clear that she isn't about to go along to get along when it comes to former President Donald Trump and the January 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol Building. The GOP congressman blames Trump for the January 6 insurrection, acknowledging Joe Biden as the legitimately elected president of the United States — policy differences and all — and calling out Trump's false claims of widespread voter fraud in 2020 as the lies they are. For infuriating Trumpistas and refusing to bow down to Dear Leader, Cheney is likely to be removed from her current position as House Republican Conference chair — and the conservative National Review slams efforts to oust Cheney in a staff editorial published on May 5.

"It isn't Cheney who is preventing Republicans from moving on and repairing the wounds from the 2020 election," the Review's editorial board writes. "It is Trump himself. Six months after being defeated, he still won't drop it — in statements, in TV appearances, and in impromptu speeches to small crowds at Mar-a-Lago. These statements are divisive and false, yet the same people now coming after Cheney don't raise a peep about them."

From a policy standpoint, Cheney has been quite critical of President Biden and his administration. But she has also stressed that she considers Biden the loyal opposition, not the enemy — and she made that point by giving the president a friendly fist bump before his recent speech before Congress.

The National Review's editorial board writes, "Cheney is being accused of distracting from the fight against Biden when some Trump supporters have displayed more passion about taking her out than opposing Biden's $6 trillion agenda. If Cheney's enemies think we should be talking about Biden and not Trump, they've certainly picked a funny way to show it."

Because she has been so critical of Trump, his sycophants in the GOP are accusing of her being a RINO: Republican in Name Only — which the Review's editorial board finds ridiculous.

"It's also worth noting that Cheney is not in danger because she is a RINO who has broken with the party on policy," the Review's editorial board explains. "She has maintained an overwhelmingly conservative voting record, and while noninterventionists may object to her hawkishness, that does not explain the movement to oust her."

The Republican being named as a likely replacement for Cheney as House Republican Conference chair is Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, who has gone from being a more moderate conservative in 2015/2016 to being a strident far-right Trumpista who promoted Trump's bogus election fraud claims following the 2020 election.

"Unlike Cheney, Stefanik stood with Trump by peddling his mendacious claims and voting against certification of President Biden's Electoral College victory," the Review's editorial board writes. "It's a sad commentary on the state of the House GOP that this has now become a condition of advancement."