Cheney: GOP leadership enables white supremacy
CASPER — Republican House leaders have enabled white supremacy, Rep. Liz Cheney said Monday, in a tweet that called on them to denounce racist and extremist views.
“The House GOP leadership has enabled white nationalism, white supremacy, and anti-semitism,” she wrote in the tweet, which was posted to her personal account early Monday. “History has taught us that what begins with words ends in far worse. GOP leaders must renounce and reject these views and those who hold them.”
Cheney’s comment comes two days after a gunman killed 10 people and wounded three more in a racist attack in a Buffalo, New York, supermarket.
Some of the racist theories that the shooter adhered to, such as “replacement theory,” have been loosely pedaled by members of Congress, including Rep. Elise Stefanik, the New York lawmaker that replaced Cheney as the third-ranking member of the GOP House leadership.
Whether or not the tweet is directly tied to the shooting, which authorities say targeted the Black community, is unclear.
Cheney did not immediately respond to the request for comment.
The tweet is not the first time Cheney has spoken out about her colleagues or condemned leadership — which she was formerly a part of — for keeping quiet on racism.
Earlier this year, Cheney criticized Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia for appearing at the America First Political Action Conference, which was founded by the white nationalist political commentator and social media personality Nick Fuentes. It’s meant to be an alternative to the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
“As Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene and Rep Paul Gosar speak at this white supremacist, anti-Semitic, pro-Putin event, silence by Republican Party leaders is deafening and enabling,” she tweeted.
Cheney didn’t stop there. Specifically regarding Greene’s attendance, Cheney tweeted the following from her official account: “Marjorie Taylor Greene now using her official USG congressional account to promote anti-Semitic, white supremacist, pro-Hitler, pro-Putin conference. This is a toxin in the bloodstream of America. It must stop. House GOP Leaders: Have you lost all sense of decency?”
Late last year, Cheney was one of two House Republicans to censure Gosar after he posted a doctored video on Twitter that depicted himself killing far-left New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is a frequent target of vitriol from the right.
Gosar then turned the knife on President Joe Biden in the animated video.
At that time, Cheney said House GOP leadership had “lost their moral compass” for its silence on the video. Both Greene and Gosar have a history of pedaling hateful conspiracy theories.
Gosar’s controversial history has drawn the ire of his own family members, many of whom live in Wyoming.
Six of Gosar’s nine siblings endorsed his Democratic challenger in 2018, David Brill, putting out a series of video ads filmed in various Wyoming locations. In the ads, his siblings came out against a number of policies advocated by their brother.
What’s more, the Gosar family played a big role in the inception of the ad concept, the Star-Tribune previously reported.
Cheney has not blanched at criticizing her own party, even if it has cost her politically.
Cheney voted to impeach former President Donald Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and continued to rebuke him after she lost her role in House leadership and received condemnation from leaders.
House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California has even gone as far to endorse Harriet Hageman, the natural resources lawyer running against Cheney with Trump’s endorsement.
This story was published on May 17, 2022.
