““Right now we are facing a domestic threat that we have never faced before. And this is a former president who is trying to unravel the foundations of our constitutional republic. And he is being helped by Republican leaders and elected officials who are leaving. to become voluntary hostages of this dangerous and irrational man. “”
That was part of Liz Cheney’s now viral speech at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Wednesday night. Wyoming Republican and daughter of former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney received a standing ovation for not punching former President Donald Trump – and members of his own party who have supported him – for his role in the January 6 attack on the Capitol.
Cheney, who is also the vice president of the Jan. 6 House Committee investigating what happened at the Capitol complex that day and the days surrounding the riots, delivered a speech that set out some of the most condemned revelations. against Trump and his administration. which have come out of public hearings in recent weeks.
“It has become clear that the efforts that Donald Trump oversaw and in which he participated are even more terrifying and threatening than we could have imagined,” Cheney said.
““Republicans cannot be loyal to Donald Trump and the Constitution.””
Cheney set out the evidence the committee has presented to show that Trump tried to overturn the 2020 U.S. presidential election and prevent the peaceful transfer of presidential power to Joe Biden. He said Trump “summoned a crowd to Washington” and tried to join them in marching on the Capitol. He said Trump knew many of the mob were armed, and he knew some of them were calling to hang then-Vice President Mike Pence. “He said, quoting,‘ Mike deserves it, ’” Cheney said. And he also noted that the former president “refused to take action” to tell the mutineers to stop and return home.
“The reality we face today as Republicans, as we think about the election we have in front of us, we must choose, because Republicans cannot be loyal to Donald Trump and loyal to the Constitution,” he said, among strong and persistent applause.
You can watch his full speech here.
Her address comes at a time when Trump advisers have suggested she could announce a presidential campaign in 2024. And Cheney herself faces a challenge backed by Trump for his seat in Wyoming Congress in August.
Related: June 2022 will be remembered as the month that “ended Donald Trump”: analysts react to January 6 hearings
Cheney also praised Cassidy Hutchinson, the former aide to Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows, whose testimony this week claimed the former president demanded that he be taken to join the mob at the Capitol. “His courage and patriotism yesterday were incredible to behold,” Cheney said. “The girls of this great nation are seeing what it really means to love this country and what it really means to be a patriot.”
She added, “And let me also say this to the girls and young women who are watching tonight: these days, for the most part, men run the world, and it really doesn’t go so well.”