Matt Gaetz to rally Trump loyalists to bolster MAGA backlash in Liz Cheney’s backyard

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The Republican Party is now grappling with its post-Trump future, and some elected officials, like Gaetz, are positioning themselves as the bearer of his brand by attacking other Republicans like Cheney, who hope to overtake him. Republican leaders have warned that the internal fighting is hurting the party.

“I have a competing view of republicanism,” Gaetz told reporters this week. “I believe we need to embrace the spirit and style of President Trump.”

Cheney, the No. 3 House Republican, was one of 10 Republicans to vote to remove the former president. In a statement, Cheney blamed the violence on Capitol Hill on January 6 – including the deaths of five people – directly on Trump, saying he was “summoning”, “assembling” and “lighting the flame of this attack.”

“There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution,” said the Wyoming Republican.

But Cheney’s move has sparked retaliation in her deeply conservative home state, as Gaetz and other Republicans push her to step down as chair of the House GOP conference. Most Republicans still support the former president, and 72% of Republicans continue to believe his lie that President Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election due to voter fraud, a recent University poll found from Monmouth.
A GOP state senator, Anthony Bouchard, announced a 2022 campaign against Cheney. Over 50,000 people have apparently signed a Change.org petition to “recall” Cheney. Donald Trump Jr., the son of the former president, tweeted, “With Republicans like Liz Cheney needing Democrats?” And the Wyoming Republican State Party released a statement saying, “There hasn’t been a time in our tenure that we’ve seen this type of outcry from our fellow Republicans, the anger and frustration being palpable in the comments we have received. “

“Our phone hasn’t stopped ringing, our email is filling up and our website has seen more traffic than ever before,” the statement said. “The consensus is clear that those reaching out to the Party vehemently disagree with Representative Cheney’s decision and actions.”

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Gaetz said that Cheney’s “main job” is to “carry the message” to his fellow Republican House members.

“Most members of the Republican Conference don’t believe Liz Cheney speaks for them,” he said.

A source in Cheney’s office dismissed Gaetz’s event as a publicity stunt. The source said “Representative Gaetz can leave his beauty bag at home. In Wyoming men don’t wear makeup.” The source linked to a video of Gaetz talking about putting on makeup for a TV appearance.

Cheney’s allies came to his aid. Former Republican Gov. Matt Mead joined a local newspaper op-ed praising her “courage” to discharge her constitutional duty “whatever personal or political cost she might pay.” And Wyoming Senator John Barrasso defended Cheney as an effective member of the delegation of the Congress of their state.

“Wyoming doesn’t like strangers walking into our state and trying to tell us what to do,” said Amy Edmonds, former state legislator and former director of communications for Cheney.

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Republican House Leader Kevin McCarthy equated her level of support for Cheney, saying she should remain in charge but had “concerns” about her decision.

Gaetz said the only conversation he had with McCarthy about his efforts to oust Cheney came after a recent TV interview, when McCarthy asked him to stop referring to Cheney and others with him. which he disagreed by name in light of the increase in death threats against members. of Congress.

“I stopped citing people by name for about a day or two,” Gaetz said. “But after Liz became more problematic, I think, in her divergence from the prospect of the conference, it became untenable not to identify her as the main internal resistance of the Republican Party to the American First Vision.”

Wyoming political observers have said Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, will fend off critical clamor.

“There’s going to be a setback, but I don’t think it’s something that she can’t survive,” said Jim King, professor of political science at the University of Wyoming.



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