Donald Trump Jr. joined in criticizing Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) on Twitter, comparing her to Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and saying “we don’t need another.”
President Trump’s son retweeted Rep. Matt Gaetz’s (R-Fla.) post calling for Cheney to step down as House Republican Conference chairwoman.
“We already have one Mitt Romney, we don’t need another…” he said. “We also don’t need the endless wars she advocates for.”
The tweet came after conservative lawmakers, including Gaetz, clashed with Cheney at a Tuesday closed-door Republican meeting. Several representatives took to a microphone to condemn the House Republican leader for her support of top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci as well as a primary challenger to Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.).
After the meeting, the Wyoming lawmaker told The Hill it was a “robust” conversation.
“Listen, we had a robust exchange of views,” Cheney said. “I think that, ultimately, you know, I started the conference by laying out all of the damage — what America would look like under a [former Vice President Joe] Biden, [Senate Minority Leader Charles] Schumer [D-N.Y.], [Speaker Nancy] Pelosi [D-Calif.] regime, essentially — and why it’s so important that we make sure, whether you’re talking about our Second Amendment rights, whether you’re talking about taxpayer funding for illegal immigrant health care, whether you’re talking about taxpayer funding for abortion, across the board, the damage that would be done, and ultimately we all want the same thing. We all want to be in the same place.”
Gaetz took to Twitter after the argument, saying Cheney “has worked behind the scenes (and now in public) against @realDonaldTrump and his agenda.”
“House Republicans deserve better as our Conference Chair,” he posted. “Liz Cheney should step down or be removed.”
Cheney addressed Trump Jr.’s tweet at a Tuesday afternoon press conference saying the president’s son “is not a member of the House Republican Conference.”
“I take my position in leadership very seriously, I take the oath that I’m sworn to the constitution, very seriously as I know all of us do, who are elected officials,” she said. “And I think that, you know, we have a situation in many cases where in our conference we can have a healthy exchange of views, unfortunately, you don’t see that as much in the Democratic Caucus.”
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) also expressed his support for Cheney telling reporters, “We’re honored to have her as conference chair.”
Cheney clashed with Trump earlier this month, criticizing the president for promoting a false story that “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough killed a congressional aide.
Romney has been a consistent critic of the president and was the only Republican congressman to vote to convict Trump on one count for impeachment. Recently, he voiced his opposition to Trump’s decision to commute associate Roger Stone’s sentence.
The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) disinvited the Utah senator from its January meeting due to Romney’s vote for more witnesses in the Senate impeachment trial. The president also left Romney off his task force focused on reopening the economy in April, saying he holds a grudge over the impeachment vote.