Former President Donald Trump endorsed Rep. Elise Stefanik to become the House GOP’s next conference chairwoman if Rep. Liz Cheney is removed from her role.
Trump issued his endorsement in an emailed statement on Wednesday calling the New York Republican “a far superior choice” over Cheney, the Wyoming Republican who voted to impeach him the second time and has said he shouldn’t run in 2024.
“Liz Cheney is a warmongering fool who has no business in Republican Party Leadership,” the former president wrote in the tweemail. “We want leaders who believe in the Make America Great Again movement, and prioritize the values of America First. Elise Stefanik is a far superior choice, and she has my COMPLETE and TOTAL Endorsement for GOP Conference Chair. Elise is a tough and smart communicator!”
Cheney has lost the support of House Republican leaders Kevin McCarthy and Steve Scalise, with the latter publicly endorsing Stefanik earlier Wednesday.
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“House Republicans need to be solely focused on taking back the House in 2022 and fighting against Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi and President [Joe] Biden’s radical socialist agenda, and Elise Stefanik is strongly committed to doing that, which is why Whip Scalise has pledged to support her for conference chair,” Scalise spokeswoman Lauren Fine told the Washington Examiner.
Cheney was one of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump for his role in the Capitol riot. Since then, she has said in recent interviews that Trump isn’t the leader of the party and shouldn’t run for president in 2024 and that the party should not obfuscate what happened at the Capitol riot and the time leading up to it.
“Liz will have more to say in the coming days. This is about much more than a House leadership fight,” Jeremy Adler, a Cheney spokesman, told the Washington Examiner in response to Scalise’s support for Stefanik.
On Tuesday, McCarthy said members of the GOP caucus are “concerned” about her ability to “carry out the message,” but Adler pushed back.
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“This is about whether the Republican Party is going to perpetuate lies about the 2020 election and attempt to whitewash what happened on Jan. 6. Liz will not do that,” he told the Washington Examiner at the time. “That is the issue.”
