House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) indicated on Friday that his relationship with fellow Republican leader Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), who voted to impeach ex-President Donald Trump, remains strained after they publicly clashed over their stances on Trump’s role in the future of the GOP.
“Liz hasn’t asked me,” McCarthy said curtly when asked during a press conference if he would get involved in Cheney’s reelection campaign if she were to face a pro-Trump primary challenger in 2022, as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has pledged to do.
However, McCarthy brushed off the calls from some Republicans for Cheney’s resignation as House Republican conference chair.
“There’s more that unites us than divides us. We’ve dealt with that issue,” he said, referring to the conference’s vote in early February that allowed Cheney to keep her spot.
On Thursday, McCarthy accused Cheney of engaging in “cancel culture” after she asserted during a joint press conference on the previous day that Trump should not “be playing a role in the future of the party or the country.”
The Wyoming Republican made the remark immediately after McCarthy told reporters that the former president “should” speak at this year’s the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
Cheney was one of the few House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump for spurring an assault on the Capitol in January. The ex-president has reportedly sworn to exact revenge against her and is seeking out a primary challenger against her.
