Gaetz Demands Cheney’s Ouster After She’s Piled On At House GOP Meeting

WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 17: Republican Conference Chairman Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) speaks during a press conference at the US Capitol on December 17, 2019 in Washington, DC. House Republican leaders criticized their Democratic colleagues handling of the Impeachment Proceedings of President Donald Trump. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Liz Cheney
House Republican Conference Chairman Liz Cheney (R-WY) speaks during a press conference at the Capitol on December 17, 2019. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) on Tuesday went after Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) following a reportedly heated exchange during the House GOP’s first in-person meeting in months due to coronavirus-related restrictions.

Gaetz accused the GOP conference chair of working against President Trump behind the scenes and publicly before calling for her removal in a Tuesday tweet.

Gaetz’s public call for Cheney’s ouster came after Politico reported on Tuesday that a heated exchange ensued during a House GOP conference meeting. Reps. Gaetz, Jim Jordan (R-OH), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Thomas Massie (R-KY), Chip Roy (R-TX) and Louie Gohmert (R-TX) reportedly piled on Cheney for breaking with the President numerous times in recent months regarding his response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the meeting, Gaetz went after Cheney for backing Massie’s Republican primary challenger, according to Politico. Massie and several other House Republicans reportedly joined in on criticizing her for her involvement in the race.

According to Politico, Cheney hit back at Massie by telling him that he has an issue with Trump, not her, because the President openly called for Massie’s ouster in the past — which Massie vehemently disagreed with. Cheney reportedly also took a sarcastic swipe at Gaetz by telling him that “she looks forward to seeing his HBO documentary.”

Tensions in the meeting escalated when Roy took Cheney to task for her support of Dr. Anthony Fauci amid recent White House efforts to discredit him. The nation’s top infectious disease expert has faced the ire of the Trump administration as he warns the public about the severity of surges of the coronavirus throughout the country.

Politico reported that Cheney was then scorned for not supporting the President enough and supposedly undermining her fellow House Republicans. Cheney reportedly continued defending Fauci and urging House Republicans to focus on defeating the virus instead of launching attacks against people who are trying to accomplish that.

According to Politico, Cheney told reporters after the meeting that “we’re all unified” and did not respond when asked whether anyone apologized to her after the reportedly heated exchange.

Cheney said that the meeting consisted of discussions “at length about the dangers if Joe Biden is elected president.”

Politico noted, however, that Cheney was later seen on the House floor talking to Massie.

Both Donald Trump Jr. and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) backed Gaetz’s call by quote-tweeting the Florida Republican shortly after. While Trump Jr. tweeted that the GOP doesn’t need “the endless wars (Cheney) advocates for,” Paul argued in his tweet that Cheney is “leading the fight to stop” the President from getting the country out of “our endless wars.”

Cheney’s office did not immediately respond to TPM’s request for comment.

Latest News

Notable Replies

  1. Liz Cheney has worked behind the scenes (and now in public) against @realDonaldTrump and his agenda.

    Sounds good to me.

    All Gaetz does is drive while intoxicated and shaking his baby rattle.

  2. Circular firing squad. Let’s get them some real weapons.

  3. Avatar for jrw jrw says:

    Too bad Ted Yoho wasn’t there to add his input.

  4. Cult living is tough.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

262 more replies

Participants

Avatar for playitagainrowlf Avatar for steviedee111 Avatar for george_spiggott Avatar for squirreltown Avatar for inversion Avatar for sparrowhawk Avatar for ralph_vonholst Avatar for lastroth Avatar for jkrogman Avatar for benthere Avatar for gailefranz Avatar for tena Avatar for jonney_5 Avatar for dommyluc Avatar for pareedave Avatar for castor_troy Avatar for birdford Avatar for maximus Avatar for raph Avatar for the_loan_arranger Avatar for txlawyer Avatar for rascal_crone Avatar for rucleare Avatar for Mingus

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: