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RAWLINS, Wyo. (AP) – The Wyoming Republican Party overwhelmingly voted on Saturday to censor U.S. Representative Liz Cheney for voting to impeach President Donald Trump for his role in the Jan.6 riot on the U.S. Capitol.
Only eight of 74 members of the GOP central committee from member states opposed censorship in a vote that did not result in an official tally. The censorship document accused Cheney of voting to impeach even though the US House did not offer Trump “a formal hearing or due process.”
“We must honor President Trump. All President Trump did was call for a peaceful assembly and protest for a fair and verified election, ”said Darin Smith, a lawyer for Cheyenne who lost to Cheney in the Republican House primaries. United States in 2016.. “
Joey Correnti, GOP chairman in Carbon County where the no-confidence vote took place: “Does the voice of the people matter and if it does, does it matter ‘at the polls? “
Cheney, in a statement after the vote, said she remains honored to represent Wyoming and will always fight for the issues that matter most to the state.
“Foremost among these is the defense of our Constitution and the freedoms it guarantees. My vote to impeach was constrained by the oath I took to the Constitution, ”Cheney said.
Republican officials said they invited Cheney but she was not present. An empty chair titled “Representative Cheney” sat at the front of the meeting room.
The vote of no confidence was the latest blow to Cheney for joining nine Republican representatives and all Democrats in the United States House in the Jan. 13 impeachment vote. Barely three months after winning a third term with nearly 70%, Cheney already faces at least two main Republican opponents in 2022.
They include Republican State Senator Anthony Bouchard, a gun rights activist from Cheyenne, who was at the meeting, but not among those who spoke. Smith also said he was considering whether to run for Congress again.
On January 28, US Republican Matt Gaetz of Florida led a rally against Cheney outside the Wyoming Capitol. About 1,000 people attended, many carrying placards calling for Cheney’s impeachment, although several were in favor.
Cheney will remain the third member of the House GOP leadership, however, after a 145-61 vote by House Republicans on Wednesday to keep her as chair of the conference committee.
Trump faces trial Tuesday in the United States Senate for allegedly inciting an insurgency when a mob of supporters stormed into and sacked the Capitol after a nearby rally led by Trump and his close allies.
Critics of censorship came mainly from Casper, Wyoming’s second largest city, and the Jackson Hole area near Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks.
“Let’s resist this infusion of left-wing cancellation culture to try to censor and get rid of whoever we disagree with,” said Alexander Muromcew of the Teton County GOP.
The censorship momentum had been building for weeks as local Republicans in a dozen of Wyoming’s 23 counties passed their own resolutions criticizing his impeachment vote.
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Follow Mead Gruver on https://twitter.com/meadgruver
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