On Wednesday, the rifts in the GOP were once again apparent during a House Republican news conference. The conference ended hurriedly, on an awkward note, when differences arose between Rep. Liz Cheney and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.
Cheney had said that Donald Trump should not play a role in the future of the GOP. She was attending the news conference along with her Republicans team mates who have been supporting the former president.
Cheney was dismissive of Trump’s role when asked if he should be speaking at the Conservative Political Action Group (CPAC) on Sunday, at Orlando, Florida. Earlier Trump had agreed to speak at the CPAC while former Vice President Mike Pence declined the invitation.
She added that it was up to the CPAC whether Trump spoke or not. She said that she didn’t believe that he (Trump) should be playing a role in the future of the party or the country.
After these comments were made Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. and House Minority Leader, abruptly ended the news conference. Incidentally McCarthy will also be appearing at the CPAC. Just before Cheney spoke, he had said that Trump had the right to speak at the conference.
Cheney criticized Trump, a day after she had once again blamed him for inciting his followers to attack the Capitol on January 6. During a question-and-answer session after a foreign police address, she had spoken against him for “summoning the mob” and “provoking them” to attack the Capitol, violently, as Congresspersons were in the constitutional process of counting electoral votes.
Cheney has been criticized by the pro-Trump Republicans as well as the Republican office in Wyoming her home state. However, she has not backed down from her position. Trump and his supporters have said that they will support primary challengers to all those Republicans who supported the impeachment process, specially Cheney.
Kevin MacArthur had criticized Trump after the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol but had relented in the following weeks. He visited the former President at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida. They had discussed strategies for the upcoming 2022 Congressional elections.
Image Credit Wiki
Image Credit Wiki
