Liz Cheney Needles Trump For Bashing Bush: ‘I Like Republican Presidents Who Win Re-Election’
Topline
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) on Sunday shot back at former President Donald Trump for slamming former President George W. Bush’s plans to hold a fundraiser for her, the latest in a series of clashes between Trump and one of his fiercest Republican critics in Congress.
PERRY, GA – SEPTEMBER 25: Former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally as a photo of Rep. Liz … [+]
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Key Facts
Cheney tweeted a photo of Bush with the caption “I like Republican presidents who win re-election,” a reference to Trump’s loss to President Joe Biden in last year’s presidential election, which made him the first president to lose reelection since 1988.
The comment came after Trump dubbed Bush a “RINO” – Republican In Name Only – in a statement on Wednesday, blasting him and his “flunky” former adviser Karl Rove for planning a fundraiser for Cheney in Texas.
Trump also took aim at Bush for not having the “courage” to pardon Scooter Libby, who was the one-time chief of staff to former Vice President Dick Cheney, Liz Cheney’s father, and who was convicted for obstruction of justice, perjury and making false statements in 2007 but pardoned by Trump in 2018.
More recently, Trump has savaged the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol that Cheney helps lead, labeling it the “Unselect Committee” and vowing to fight subpoenas the panel issued for four of his former aides.
Key Background
Cheney and Trump have been at odds since the former took aim at the ex-president’s agreement with the Taliban to withdraw troops from Afghanistan last year, but those tensions grew exponentially when Cheney voted to impeach Trump for “incitement of insurrection” over his involvement in the Capitol attack. While Cheney’s relentless criticism of Trump earned her a spot on the select committee, it cost her the chairmanship of the House Republican Conference.
Big Number
5. That’s the number of Republican lawmakers, including Cheney, facing Trump-endorsed primary challengers. One of them, Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (R-Ohio), has opted to retire from Congress at the end of his term rather than face a challenge from ex-Trump aide Max Miller.
What To Watch For
Cheney faces an uphill battle in her reelection in the face of a challenge from Republican National Committee member Harriet Hageman, an erstwhile Cheney supporter. Trump endorsed Hageman earlier this month and blasted Cheney as “disloyal,” a possible death knell for Cheney in a state that voted for Trump by more than 40 points in 2020.
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