House

Cheney: Republicans in Congress ‘can’t be counted on to defend’ Constitution

by Lauren Sforza - 12/05/23 9:49 PM ET

Former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) said Tuesday that Republicans in Congress can’t be relied on to “defend” the Constitution.

“I think the lesson that we’ve seen over the course of the last couple of years is that this group of elected Republicans can’t be counted on to defend the Constitution,” Cheney said in an interview with CNN anchor Anderson Cooper. “And that’s a very sad thing for me to say. It’s a very dangerous place for the country to be, but that’s what we’ve seen based on the actions of the last several years.”

When Cooper asked what needs to happen to get Republicans “to actually govern and get stuff done,” Cheney reiterated that the GOP needs to distance itself from former President Trump.

“I think we have to have the majority of the American people who are not part of sort of this cult of personality around Donald Trump,” Cheney said. “There is a portion of the party that absolutely is not going to be convinced to move away from him.”

“But it’s a much smaller number than, you know, the vast majority of Republicans, Democrats and independents combined,” she continued. “And those of us who understand the danger have to be committed to working across party lines to protect against it.”

Cheney, a longtime critic of Trump, has been on a media blitz to promote her new book, “Oath and Honor: A Memoir and a Warning,” which largely focuses on the current state of the Republican Party and what dangers a second Trump presidency would bring.

Cheney served as the vice chair of the House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attacks on the Capitol. She then lost her August 2022 primary after becoming a frequent critic of her party and the former president.

She has repeatedly warned that a vote for Trump means “a vote against the Constitution.” She said in a separate interview with CBS’s John Dickerson over the weekend that a GOP majority in 2025 “presents a threat” to the United States, adding that the Republican Party made a choice to not choose the Constitution.