Sen. Lindsey Graham: The Republican Party can’t ‘move forward without President Trump’
remove Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., from her position as chair of the House Republican Conference over her continued criticism of Trump and refusal to perpetuate his false election fraud claims.
More:Rep. Liz Cheney could lose GOP leadership role over her criticism of Trump. What does that mean?
“I’ve always liked Liz Cheney, but she’s made a determination that the Republican Party can’t grow with President Trump. I’ve determined we can’t grow without him,” Graham said.
The longtime supporter of the former president said that working people and minorities are attracted to the Republican Party under Trump because “President Trump appears to be on the side of people working really hard… because he is.”
Cheney’s potential ouster is a signal that the GOP is prioritizing its relationship with Trump in upcoming election fights. She was one of 10 Republicans in the House to vote for Trump’s impeachment over his alleged incitement of the deadly Capitol riot on Jan. 6, and she has continued to argue that the party should move away from its focus on Trump.
In an op-ed in The Washington Post this week, she framed the Republican Party as “at a turning point” in whether it will choose “truth and fidelity to the Constitution” or the “cult of personality” of Trump.
Yet, Cheney’s voting record as a congresswoman was closely aligned with Trump’s priorities while he was in office, according to a FiveThirtyEight analysis that showed she voted in line with him 92.9% of the time.
House Republicans’ No. 3, daughter of a VP, Trump critic
Cheney sidestepped an early attempt to remove her from her role in February shortly after her comments blaming Trump for the riot caused Republicans to ramp up their criticisms of her.
Graham, too, initially laid some of the responsibility for the riot at Trump’s feet, before later saying Trump did not cause it.
“It breaks my heart that my friend, a president of consequence, would allow yesterday to happen. And it will be a major part of his presidency. When it comes to accountability, the president needs to understand that his actions were the problem, not the solution,” Graham said the day after the riot.
On Feb. 14, he said, “The speech on Jan. 6 was not an incitement to violence,” referring to the speech Trump gave on Jan. 6.