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Christie: Cheney ‘wanted’ to get kicked out of GOP leadership

by Olafimihan Oshin - 04/10/22 1:46 PM ET

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said on Sunday that Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) “wanted to be kicked out” of GOP House leadership amid fallout over her stance on former President Trump and the Jan. 6 insurrection.

“Look, my view has always been that Liz Cheney wanted to be kicked out,” Christie said on ABC’s “This Week.” “Remember, the first time that she made the statement she made, she was reelected to her leadership position.”

“It’s only when she continued after that, that looks like somebody who wanted to make a point and wanted to be kicked out,” Christie said.

“She says the point she’s making is to defend the Constitution,” moderator Jonathan Karl interjected.

“Whatever it is, it wasn’t like she was looking to protect her position … and the first time that Republicans inside that caucus had a chance to vote on this … they voted to keep her,” Christie responded.

Cheney was ousted from her leadership position with the House GOP last May amid her calling out Trump for his repeated false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.

Cheney, who was one of the 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump for his role in the insurrection, also joined the House select committee investigating the events of the deadly attack.

In an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, Cheney rejected a report of a dispute among members of the panel regarding whether to make a criminal referral for Trump.

The New York Times reported that members of the committee are divided over whether to make a criminal referral to the Department of Justice for Trump, even though the panel has determined that they have the evidence for such a move.

“There’s not really a dispute on the committee,” Cheney said.

“The committee is working in a really collaborative way to discuss these issues, as we are with all of the issues we’re addressing, and we’ll continue to work together to do so. So I wouldn’t characterize there as being a dispute on the committee,” she added.