The Real Reason Liz Cheney Won't Back Down In Her Fight Against Trump

Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming may be out of a job in Congress, but that doesn't mean she intends to twiddle her thumbs and keep her head down. Instead, she revealed while on NBC's "Today" that she is prepared to do "whatever it takes" to keep former President Donald Trump from winning a second term in the White House. "He's unfit. He never again can be anywhere close to the Oval Office," she said. "I'm going to do everything that I can, both to make sure that that never happens, but also to make sure that the Republican Party gets back to substance and policy." 

Cheney explained that she doesn't understand why those at the top of the GOP remain committed to Trump, particularly since — in her eyes — he has continued to do more damage since he left office. "I think you've watched over the course of the last several months, the former president get more aggressive, more vocal pushing the lie, and I think that's a really important thing for people to understand," she said.

Cheney concluded by saying that she's not "looking backwards," but is focused on the "current potential damage" and threat that Trump poses. "Silence is not an option," she said. 

CNN reported that it only took 16 minutes for Congressional Republicans to remove Liz Cheney from her position as GOP Conference Chair. In fact, it went so quickly that some of the GOP House members barely made it on time to vote. 

The meeting begun with Cheney calling out former President Donald Trump for saying that the 2020 election had been stolen, and promising that she would be at the helm of an internal battle to "restore our party and our nation to conservative principles." When she talked about Trump in a negative way, CNN quoted people inside the meeting who revealed she had been booed. The motion to remove her from leadership was then made by North Carolina Representative Virginia Foxx – the voting was registered by voice, which meant there was no official tally to show who might have been for or against the embattled congresswoman. 

The Wyoming Tribune Eagle, which is published in Cheney's home state, noted that it is too soon to tell whether her uncompromising stance with regard to Trump and what is now called "The Big Lie" will influence those who supported her in the polls. While Trump has many supporters in the state, there are also voters and officials who have said they cannot blindly support Trump. In the words of one county-level elected official, "We just can't stand behind this and watch this man terrorize our country, because he was a sore loser ... We have to stop telling this big lie."